There's Just One Problem
by thelonglostpotter
Summary: fem!Harry : After the war, a new Draco Malfoy has reached the age of eighteen and through an old family ritual has wish for his perfect bride to be. But what if this perfect girl doesn't want to marry him and possibly still hates him after the years of rivalry? Will love come...? (PS judge the story not the summary!)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I am not the amazing J. K. Rowling, nor will I ever be**

Chapter 1: Everything Has Changed

"The war is over."

The words echoed in Harry's head.

"Voldemort is gone."

The thought was almost unimaginable.

"It's time to move on."

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

"Harry!"

Harry woke up groggily and jumped to see her best friend, Hermione, standing over her looking very worried.

"Jeez, Mione! Way to wake someone up." The raven-haired girl grumbled, slowly sitting up on her bed.

"Well I'm so sorry." Hermione drawled sarcastically, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. Harry always thought she looked like Mrs Weasley when she did this but she would dare actually say so. "I just thought you might like to know that our Hogwarts letters arrived. You'll have to excuse me for thinking you'd be excited."

This was enough to get Harry to jump out of bed, her emerald eyes wide with excitement. "Did we get in?" She asked, jumping around the room trying to find her jumper and slippers.

"I don't know!" Hermione exclaimed exasperatedly. "We are all waiting for you!"

Harry yanked her jumper over her head, shot her friend a lopsided grin and cried, "Race you downstairs!"

"Harry! No fair!" She heard the brunette call after her as she ran down the steps of the Burrow.

Harry looked around her at the 'new' Burrow. It was the small building, only expanded on the inside. Bedrooms had been added for all three Grangers, who had been staying with the Weasleys since the war, afraid of returning to their normal lives. Harry had also been given a room. Multiple bathrooms and living rooms had also been added as well as the full refurbishment the house had gone through. It still looked like the Burrow, only bigger.

"Good morning!" Harry called cheerily to the crowd that was gathered in the kitchen.

"Morning Harry!" Ron replied, handing her letter.

"That was so not fair!" Hermione complained as she came tumbling down the staircase.

Harry smirked at her as she collapsed into a chair, gasping for breath.

"Come on Mione, enough of this!" Ron begged her. "Our letters!" He waved hers under her nose as he said, "Remember?"

Hermione snatched her letter from his teasing fingers and looked at him, then Harry and then Ginny, who had at this point joined them.

All four of them held their breath as they slowly opened their letters. These letters would tell them if they had been reaccepted to Hogwarts and what year they had been placed in. Following the war, Professor McGonagoll, the new Headmistress, had announced that Hogwarts would be reopening to those who deserved it. Many who had joined the dark side would not be returning this year. It would also be determined what year they would return to due to the lack of actual education the previous year and the fact that some people far exceeded their current years' standards during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Harry pulled out her letter and a grin grew on her face as she read it.

_'Dear Miss Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been reaccepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You will be entering as a Seventh Year Gryffindor._

_We would also like to reoffer you your position as Gryffindor Quidditch Captain._

_You will find, attached, your list of supplies for this year._

_We await your owl,_

_Professor McGonagoll_

_Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'_

"Yes!" She pumped her fist into the air. Not, only had she been reaccepted, but she's also been reinstated as Quidditch Captain, words could not describe how happy she was at that moment. She would be returning to Hogwarts, going home again.

Harry looked over at her best friends. She could tell by the looks of joy on their faces that they'd all been reaccepted too.

Hermione looked up from her letter, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm Head Girl!"

"I'm Head Boy?!" Ron looked flustered and confused. Hermione hugged him tightly as he reread the letter.

"Nice one, mate!" Harry smiled at him. She really was proud of her best friend. He'd really grown up these past two years. He deserved the title more than anyone she knew. She looked over to Ginny, who's grin was bright enough to scare away a Dementor.

"Say 'hello' to your new class mate!" She drawled sarcastically. "I am officially a Seventh Year!"

Mrs Weasley joined the group just in time to hear Ginny's announcement.

"Oh Ginny dear! I am so proud of you!" She cooed. "All of you!" She turned to the rest of them. "You know what this means, time for a trip to Diagon Alley!"

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

Draco Malfoy looked around in disbelief, he never thought he'd see Diagon Alley ever again. Not much had changed, he noticed, but he was far more uncomfortable than he remembered being when he had been there last. People were staring, a lot of people.

Ever since the Malfoys' trial, it was all people could do when he was around; stare. All because Harriet Potter had stood up and defended him- them. His mother had helped her, for her own reasons, when the Dark Lord had tried to kill her and in return she saved them from their doom, Azkaban. Of course, his father had still ended up there, being a proved Death Eater, but he and his mother were cleared of all charges and he was in debt to Harriet Potter. Draco ran his hand through his hair, which he'd taken to leaving as is (no gel) thinking about Potter. He remembered the fiery passion he'd seen in those beautiful emerald eyes when he'd run into her during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Draco stopped walking. Had he really just thought about something to do with Potter as 'beautiful'?! No way, must've been some sort of fluke, he was focused on other things right then so it must've just been a slip in his mind. Draco resumed walking briskly behind his mother, up the stairs into Gringotts Bank.

"Mrs Malfoy and son." A goblin greeted them as they approached his desk.

"We wish to enter our vault." Draco's mother held her head high but her voice was softer than it had been before the war, she genuinely sounded kinder and more relaxed.

The goblin must've noticed this change too as his eyes widened a fraction before resuming his usual glare. "Follow me please."

Draco and his mother followed the small creature to the carts. Draco would never admit it, but he loved the ride in the Gringotts chamber, he always smiled as the cart wizzed through the many tunnels over the endless pits. He jumped forward slightly as the cart drew to a halt.

"Vault 709." The goblin announced as he stepped out of the cart and walked up to the door. "Key, please."

Draco handed it over obligingly and watched as the goblin opened their vault. There was a quick 'click' and the door swung inwards revealing the treasures of the vault.

"I will wait here, please take all the time you need." The goblin told them before he returned to the cart.

"Come Draco." His mother spoke to him softly, leading him further into the vault than the young man had ever been before. "Draco, as you know, it is custom for a Pureblood to become engaged before his eighteenth birthday."

Draco groaned inwardly, he had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going.

"Mother I-" He began but was cut off by his mother.

"I know you don't have anyone in mind currently but Draco you don't actually need anyone in mind." His mother explained. Draco looked at her hoping she didn't mean what he thought she did.

"Mother you haven't… You… Have you arranged a marriage for me?" Draco was shocked. His mother had always encouraged him to search for love and all that.

"No! My dear Dragon!" His mother handed him a box. "This is how you will become engaged."

Draco looked at her with wide eyes before taking the box and opening it. Within the box, on a bed of green satin, lay a bracelet. A beautiful silver gold link bracelet decorated with small sapphires and emeralds. But as beautiful as the bracelet was, Draco was still confused.

"This will find you the perfect wife. All you do is tell it exactly what you want in a bride, personality, type anything. You tell the bracelet and it will find you the perfect wife. When the bracelet has found your perfect match, it will latch onto her wrist and will be irremovable. We will send in an advert to the Daily Prophet with a picture and your match will have to come forth as only you can remove it."

"That doesn't sound too bad I guess…" Draco pondered. "But what would happen if it chooses someone I dislike?"

"Dragon, the bracelet does not make a mistake." Seeing her son's hesitation she decided to ease him into the thought slowly. "If you are really displeased, you can just remove the bracelet from her wrist and simply end the engagement. Would you like to use it Draco?" His mother asked softly. "All the Malfoy men have used it in the past, even your father. This bracelet found me and Lucius and I have been together and happy ever since."

Draco let out a breath he didn't even realise he'd been holding. "Yes." He breathed. "I'll use it."

His mother smiled at him. "Take your time Draco, I'll be waiting outside."

Draco nodded as he lifted the bracelet out of the box and held it in both hands and began his wish. "I wish for a woman with a mind who can think for herself. Someone who will bring out the best in me, whom I can bring out the best in. I wish for someone who will understand me and love me for me, not my wealth or status. I want a girl whom I can talk to about nothing and everything, a girl who will stay with me till the end and for whom I can do the same. Find me someone who completes me and finds the true me that I have lost in time. Also," He added sheepishly. "Preferably a girl I know and… Well… Someone who can make me happy." Draco looked down at the bracelet as he finished his wish. Nothing happened for a few moments but then suddenly, in a flash of bright light, it was gone. He looked down at his hands and noticed quickly a marking on his wrist. It was like a ribbon that wound itself around his wrist and meet on the inner side, entangled to form a small, barely visible heart. Draco smiled, he knew, he just knew, that this would end well. He could just feel it.

"I am so proud of you Dragon." Draco turned to see his mother watching him cautiously, her pride obvious on her open face. Draco knew she may have expected him to wish for a Pureblooded girl of high social standing, as his younger self would have. But he didn't. Instead, he followed his heart.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

"Now, Harry dear, you need a lot of new clothes!" Mrs Weasley rushed the children through the crowded bustle of Diagon Alley. "Why don't you head on over to Madam Malkin's? I'll go with the others and get your books."

"Can we meet Harry at Quality Quidditch Supplies, Mum?" Harry rolled her eyes at Ron, of course, the only thing he had in mind was Quidditch. Then again, she could do with some new gloves…

"I could meet you there when I'm done, Mrs Weasley?" Harry chimed in, earning a full on grin from Ron.

"Alright dears!" The woman huffed. "And how many times have I told you to call me Molly?" She called after Harry as the girl began weaving her way through the crowd to Madam Malkin's.

Harry could just see the store over everyone's heads when suddenly a bright white flash took over her vision and she felt a cool, numb feeling on her wrist. As soon as the feeling had come, it was gone. Harry shook her head and rubbed her eyes for a second. That was really weird she thought. She looked down at her wrist and was suddenly surprised to see a slivery bracelet with blue and green gems clipped snuggly to her wrist.

"What is this…?" She muttered, trying to get it off. Her eyes went wide as she realised it was stuck. "Ok… Ok…" She muttered. She realised she had no idea what to do and would have to wait until Hermione could explain. "I really hope she knows what this is…" She opened the door to Madam Malkin's.

She walked in and realised it was fairly empty, except for Madam Malkin and a boy with pale blonde hair. Harry was hit by a sudden sense of déjà vu as the boy turned around and their eyes locked. Emerald green meeting mercury silver. It was just like the very first time she'd walking into this shop. Just her and Draco Malfoy.

**Ok so chapter 1! What do you think? Remember there's a review button for a reason ;) **

**Please check out my other story too, People Can Change With A Little Bit Of Love !**

**Thanks for reading!**

**XXX**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

"Malfoy." She greeted him civilly with a small nod of her head, as a strand of her long black hair fell into her face she lifted her hand and gently tucked it behind her ear before looking back at Malfoy.

Draco watched her small movements with eagle-like eyes, not even missing the single flick of her smallest finger as she brushed the strand of hair behind her ear before turning back to him, her eyes wide and innocent.

_Damn she looks really cute…_ Draco's thoughts wandered away from him for a moment before he reminded himself who this was exactly.

"Potter." He returned with an equal amount of civility. "I take it you're returning to Hogwarts?" He attempted to make conversation with the girl, he figured he owed Potter as much.

"Yes, I am." Harry tilted her head to the side and eyed Malfoy wearily. It had been a full minute and he hadn't teased her or said anything rude or mean yet, instead he'd asked her a polite, small chat, question. Something was really wrong here. Suddenly she spotted his shopping bag, inside was a Hogwarts robe. "You got in?" She exclaimed suddenly.

Draco looked at her, a smirk growing on his face. "Of course, Potter." He replied calmly. "Aren't you happy? After all, what would Hogwarts be without your favourite sneaky Slytherin?" He drawled. "See you at school." He whispered in her ear as he passed her on his way out through the door, leaving her there with an expression of half-surprise that Malfoy had come close enough to whisper in her ear, and half-angry that he'd be returning to Hogwarts AND it didn't seem like he'd changed one little bit.

Draco sighed as he stepped back out onto the cobbled alley, he'd missed riling up Potter, she just made it so easy.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

"That slimy git!" Harry exclaimed as she stormed into Quality Quidditch Supplies two hours later and joined Ron and Ginny at the display of broom-care supplies.

"Who?" Ron asked her, bewildered at her anger, after all, they were in a Quidditch Store.

"Malfoy, that's who!" She cried exasperatedly.

"You saw Malfoy?" Ginny asked, her eyes wide in shock. "What's he doing here?"

"Buying school supplies." Harry grumbled, glaring at the innocent broom supplies.

"School supplies?!" Ron and Ginny cried out suddenly in surprise.

"You can't mean-" Ron began.

"You're not saying-" Ginny continued.

"He didn't-"

"He's not-"

"He what?!" They finished. Harry rolled her eyes at the two of them. They were like a new George and- no, they weren't. But they had gotten a lot closer since the Battle and Harry was glad for that, they needed each other to stay strong.

"Who did what?" Harry spun around to see Hermione standing behind the three of them with her arms full of books, she was obviously waiting for an answer and Harry would have been an idiot not to comply.

"Draco Malfoy is coming to Hogwarts."

"Oh," Hermione actually looked stunned. "Was that all you were shouting about?"

Harry, Ginny and Ron looked at Hermione in amazement. Had she heard them right? Draco Malfoy was coming to Hogwarts! Surely that should have provoked some sort of reaction in her?!

"Mione… Draco Malfoy…" Ron began repeating what Harry had said slowly but didn't get far before a rather annoyed Hermione interrupted him.

"Yes, Ronald, I heard what Harry said. I just don't think it's that big a deal." She shook her head at their shocked expressions and explained her reasoning. "We've already been stuck with Malfoy for seven years, correct? Well I don't see what harm one more year, will do. Anyway, I'm sure he's changed."

"But Mione," Harry whined. "He hasn't changed! I just saw him in Madam Malkin's and first chance he got he tried to wind me up!"

"Well…" Hermione looked put out, her reasoning had just been blown to bits, there goes civility. "Did you let him wind you up, Harry?"

Harry stood still for a moment. Damn Hermione and her genius logic. "Of course I didn't!" She countered, rather defensively.

"Harry, honestly, he only annoys you because you react." Hermione scolded in her 'Mrs Weasley' voice. "All you have to do is ignore him."

Harry groaned. Why did Hermione always have to be right?

"Ok, ok enough about Malfoy for now. Can you three just get what you need so we can get out of here?" Hermione squirmed, she really did not like Quidditch or the store full of rowdy children and adults alike.

"Give us five minutes?" Harry asked hopefully, Malfoy completely forgotten for the time being.

Hermione groaned and began wriggling her way through the crowd towards the exit. Harry turned back to Ron and Ginny.

"Come on, you heard me! Five minutes, hurry!" Harry grinned, just in that moment in time it seemed as though all was normal again. Gradually it would be, she hoped.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

"Harry, from the sound of what you just told us, it didn't actually sound too bad."

Harry groaned, she'd just spent the past few minutes explaining what had happened at Madam Malkin's and no one seemed to be understanding the extreme annoyingness that Malfoy had displayed.

"Harry he barely smirked at you." Mione spoke without even looking up from the book she was reading.

"But-"

"Harry, as much as a hate to admit Hermione's right," Ron began and earned a full on scowl and huff from Hermione at his ill chosen words. "Malfoy didn't actually sound that bad. Don't get yourself worked up about this, I'm sure he'll wind you up plenty when we actually get to school."

Everyone looked at Ron, jaws about the hit the floor. He'd just said something that really made sense. Hermione dropped her book and gave him a huge hug, now it was Ron's turn to stare. He and Hermione had barely spoken properly to each other since their 'kiss' (full out snog in Harry's honest opinion). Harry and Ginny looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Oh will you two just make out and end this whole awkward stage already!" Harry groaned.

Hermione drew make and looked at Ron, her brown eyes meeting his blue ones, then she leaned forward and kissed him with as much passion as she had during the Battle. Ron took a moment to realise what was going on before he began kissing her back.

Harry wolf whistled just as Uncle Padfoot had taught her while Ginny shoved the two and moaned, "Get a room!"

Hermione and Ron finally drew back and blushed, looking away from the other.

Before either had a chance to say anything Harry chimed in giggling with Ginny. "We now pronounce you dating!"

"Finally…" Harry added cheekily, earning a swat on the head from Ron.

"Shut up you two." He glared half heartedly at his sister and best friend before turning back to his girlfriend and smiling goofily.

Harry smile at the two of them, truly happy for them. She'd known they had feeling for each other since Fourth Year when Ron had made such a big deal over their then bushy haired friend going to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum, that had not been a nice night… Hermione's feeling had been revealed in Sixth Year when Ron had dated Lavender-

Harry's train of thought stopped there as the only thing she was now able to see was the image of Lavender being attacked by Fenrir Greyback. She began shaking. She would never see Lavender again. As much as the girl, with all her talk of boys and make up, had irritated her it still hurt Harry to think that she was really gone.

"Harry?" Ginny now had her hand on Harry's shoulder and was trying to snap her out of whatever trance she was in. "Harry?"

"So many people are gone." The raven-haired girl whispered, her eyes tearing up. "They're gone and they aren't coming back."

As Harry began to sob, Ron walked over to her and pulled her into a big bear hug, gently stroking her back to comfort and calm her.

"We know, Harry." Hermione spoke gently. "It's going to be very hard but we'll handle it. It'll all be ok, don't worry Harry."

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

_Deep, silvery eyes… So familiar but slipping from mind… A greenish blue colour…._

When Harry awoke the next morning she had a pounding headache, probably from all the crying she figured. Somehow she had ended up in her bed, she smiled softly guessing that Ron had carried her up there. Looking down she realised she was still in her clothes from the previous day, as she pulled off her robe she caught sight of something shiny on her wrist, it was the bracelet that had appeared the day before in Diagon Alley. It sat snugly on her wrist, Harry twisted it looking for a clasp only to find that there wasn't one. She sighed, she'd have to asked Hermione about it at breakfast as she wasn't bothered to try find a spell before breakfast.

"Morning." She grumbled, settling down at the table. Only Ron and Mione were there, they were both huddled over a copy of the Daily Prophet, no response came. "Hello?" Harry asked, snapping them out of their haze.

"Oh!" Hermione gasped. "Morning Harry."

"Morning." Ron said before helping himself to more bacon.

"Mione what do you know about enchanted bracelets?" She asked through a mouthful of pancakes, she figured she might as well ask now while she still remembered.

To her surprise, Ron and Hermione dropped their food and looked at each other before turning slowly towards their best friend again.

"Why do you ask?" Hermione questioned slowly.

"Well, it's just that…" Harry felt slightly put out by her friends' elusive behaviour. "A bracelet appeared on my wrist yesterday and I can't seem to get it off."

"What does it look like?" Ron demanded, food completely forgotten.

Harry slowly pulled up her sleeve and showed them the bracelet. Hermione let off a high-pitched squeal (not the good kind) and picked up the Prophet and started muttering. Ron seemed to be in a full body bind.

"Er, Harry?" Hermione began cautiously. "Don't freak out when I tell you this but…"

Now Harry was definitely freaked out. "What is it?" She demanded.

"You're engaged to Malfoy." Hermione said it quickly.

Harry stared at her friend, hoping she'd misheard her.

"I- I- What?!" She stuttered.

Hermione handed her the Prophet without uttering a word.

Harry did not even read the article; her eyes were glued to the area occupied by the headline and the picture below. The headline read,

'MALFOY HEIR, WISHES FOR SOULMATE'

The image below showed a pale bracelet encrusted with dark gemstones, it was glinting in the light. It was the exact same bracelet currently stuck to her wrist.

She turned her gaze slowly towards her wrist and attempted to burn the wretched accessory with the boiling passion in her glare, unfortunately for her it was glare-proof.

"Get it off." She pronounced each syllable slowly, seething at her own words.

"Erm, about that Harry-" Hermione began gently but was cut off by Ron's shrill shriek.

"Blimey, Hermione, what's she gonna do?" The redhead started hyperventilating, this did not sooth Harry's anxiety.

"What the bloody hell is he on about, Mione?"

Hermione fiddled with her fork and the food on her plate for a moment before meeting her best friend's eyes and saying, "Only Malfoy can take it off."

Those few simple words were all Harry needed to go into full out freak out mode. She grabbed anything in close proximity and chucked it at the wall behind her friends, sending them screaming to the floor, all the while muttering aimlessly to herself. It wasn't until Ginny came running in to find out what all of the racket was, that Harry finally started to calm down.

"I'm… Engaged… To Malfoy." She gasped, collapsing into the chair behind her.

"You're what?!" Ginny exclaimed, having missed the previous conversation.

Harry sighed deeply and proceeded to slump down in her chair and stare out the window, leaving Ron and Hermione to fill in Ginny of their recent discovery.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

September 1st came quickly for the four as they hit the books, searching desperately for any information on the marriage and engagement rituals of the Ancient and Noble Houses. It had been a whole month since Harry's 'major freak out' and her attitude towards the situation had not changed one bit, she was dreading the return to school as it meant eventually coming face to face with her 'fiance'.

"I'm not going." Harry grumbled, rolling onto her side and pulling up the bed covers further.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend's immaturity. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Harry." She teased before pointing her wand at her friend's head and saying, "_Aguamenti_."

Harry screamed at the sudden rush of cold water and jumped out of bed at the speed of light. Her scream could be heard throughout the whole house.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

The Hogwarts Express, it was as beautiful as she remembered it. The red paint sparkled and the cheery atmosphere had not changed since that first time she'd arrive there 7 years ago. Of course there was a slight damper on the mood due to the masses of missing students, but it was nice all the same.

Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron soon found Neville and Luna in a compartment together and joined them as the train began to slowly pull away from the platform.

"Hello Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione." Luna greeted them in her same dreamy voice.

"Hello Luna, Neville." They all responded before settling into the silence of the powerful journey they were taking, all of them thinking about the year to come, the changes and familiarity of it all. They didn't know a better way to convey their feelings than silence; sometimes that's how it happens. But not for them, for all those lost who would not and could not return with them that day. The silence was for them.

**Hello readers! Sorry it's been a while, I get so caught up in school work… Anyway, here's chapter 2, hope you like it! Remember you can always review and let me know what you think :)**

**Katconan : I understand your point but I want to emphasize that Ron really has changed and grown up, you'll begin to see this when his duties begin. Of course I did consider Neville but I wanted to give Ron a chance…**

**ColteeYT : I'm glad the story has interested you! Thanks for the advice about the summary (maybe you'll see that I took it!) also I don't judge reviewers, I take in what you say and really try to work with it :) disclaimers do suck, that's why I'm only having that very first one! You're review was not bad, thanks for telling me what you thought!**

**animerocker646 : Glad you liked it! Sorry for taking so long to update!**

**A Guest who reviewed : Merci beaucoup! J'aime aussi fem harry, c'est pourquoi j'ai commencé cette histoire. Je suis très heureux que vous l'aimez!**

**A/N : this is in response to another review I got from a Guest saying that my story was a lot like another on FanFiction about a ring or something. I'm very sorry if this seems like I am copying someone else's story, it is not intentional! My friend originally gave me the idea of the bracelet and I just sort of went with it from there. I am not purposely copying someone's story and this similarity is very unfortunate and I am very sorry to anyone who may feel offended by this.**

**Anyway, thank you for reading and please do review as I love your feedback :)**

**XXX**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

"So," Luna began in her floaty voice, finally breaking the silence. "How were your holidays? Anything interesting happen?"

Harry's thoughts flew straight to the bracelet, which had appeared on her wrist just a month earlier and turned her life upside down. She and Hermione had spent the whole of the previous night trying to figure out a good way to conceal it. The two had finally settled for fingerless gloves, that way they could easily be passed off as being used to keep off the chill in the castle. Hermione had questioned her endlessly as to why she couldn't just ask Malfoy to take it off, after all he couldn't want to marry her. Harry's reasoning against was that she just didn't want to deal with telling Malfoy. Harry had been unsure whether or not to tell her other friends but, after remembering the effect it had had on Ron, Ginny and Hermione, she'd boldly decided against it.

"Nothing much," She replied nonchalantly, surprising herself with the ease of the lie. "It was nice not to return to the Dursleys though."

Neville and Luna nodded in understanding. Hermione and Ron shared a look, which clearly asked 'when did our best friend learn to lie?' but, due to the others in their company, they kept quiet and decided to save the question for later.

"Yeah." Ginny quickly joined in to avoid the silence that had begun to develop. "It was nice to have you at the Burrow, Harry, and you too Hermione."

Hermione offered her friend a small smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes. They all knew what was on her mind. Before the war, Hermione had had to obliviate her parents of any memory of her and left with them a desire to move to Australia. She'd hoped, if she survived the war, that she'd be able to find them and restore their memories but her search had been unsuccessful. Harry reached across and held her friends hand while Ron put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her lightly on top of her head, not much more could've been done.

Neville sighed. So much had changed in such a small space of time. The happy trio that he'd basically grown up with was just a memory at a moment like this. Hermione had lost her parents, Ginny and Ron had lost Fred and Harry, well Harry had lost everything. First her parents, then Sirius after barely two years of having him back, she'd watched Dumbledore die and now Remus and Tonks, who had been prepared to take her in as a daughter, were gone too. Not only this but they all knew that Harry blamed herself for all of it, for every life that was lost.

"The times have changed." He spoke up. Hermione's head lifted, exposing her tearstreaked cheeks, as his strong tone rang out in the small compartment. "This year will be hard," he continued. "But we've still got each other. It's going to be tough but we'll get through it and soon it'll all be just a memory. We've got to keep going for the sakes of those who can't. We can't hold onto the past for too long." This last part was directed at Harry.

They all smiled slightly, Neville was right and they all knew it. Harry took a deep breath and looked out the window. It was time to let go. She stood up slowly with an idea forming in her mind.

"Anyone hungry?" She asked. This earned her a snort from Ron.

"And you all tell me I'm fixated on food!" He chuckled. His laugh was infectious, soon they were all laughing, even Hermione. Neville nodded at the door to Harry. She gave him a cheeky salute before leaving the compartment in search of the witch who always pushed the trolley.

Harry barely made it out the compartment door before she was suddenly stopped as she walked right into someone.

"I'm so so-" She began but stopped sharp when she looked up and met a pair of pale, stormy grey eyes.

"Potter," Malfoy sneered. "So anxious to see me that you felt the need to run me down before we even reach Hogwarts? I'm touched, really, but maybe try with a bit less power next time."

"M-malfoy!" Harry stuttered, still in shock. She hadn't expected to see him until they reached Hogwarts, she had yet to decide what to do about the dratted bracelet stuck to her wrist promising her to him.

Draco cocked his head to the right and looked down at the raven haired girl in front of him. Something was definitely off. The way she was acting around him made her seem… Nervous? But why would Harry Potter be nervous around him. And the fact that her witty comeback wasn't coming as it should was slightly worrying.

"Are you alright, Harry?" He suddenly blurted out, his tone soft.

If Harry hadn't already been staring at him then she most definitely was now. He'd called her by her nickname, technically her first name. He hadn't called her Potter. There was only one other time he had ever done this and that had been- 'No!' Harry thought quickly. She couldn't think about that now. Wait a second… Had Malfoy just seemed… Caring? 'No, no, no. He's probably working up to his next dig_._'She thought spitefully.

"I'm just fine thanks _Malfoy_," she drawled sarcastically. "Now if you'll kindly move, I've got places to be. Excuse me." She shoved past his roughly and continued briskly down the hall, leaving a very bewildered Draco Malfoy behind.

"What just happened?" He muttered to no one in particular, running his hand through his soft blond hair in frustration at the situation. Harry- no! _Potter _had seemed nervous and for some reason he cared…? Then she'd suddenly snapped and the animosity he recalled from their previous years returned. 'That was weird.' He thought.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

"Oof!" Harry grunted as she dumped the armful of sweets she'd carried all the way down the halls of the Express.

Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Ron and Luna looked in shock at the huge amount of sugary treats that Harry had bought. Harry looked at the pile, she hadn't thought it to be too much when she bought it but maybe it was a bit over the top. The pile consisted of 6 Pumpkin Pasties, 6 boxes of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, 18 Chocolate Frogs, 3 Acid Pops, 3 Chocoballs, 4 Jelly Slugs, 4 Ice Mice, 2 Liquorice Wands and 18 Sugar Quills. Ron was the first to break out of the trance. His laughter was enough to snap the others.

"What's got Ron laughing?" Neville asked, clearly wondering what funny aspect he'd missed.

"Oh!" Hermione gasped suddenly before turning to Harry with a smile. "The first day of Hogwarts, you met us all. Well, not Luna," she cast a quick apologetic look at the blonde haired girl, who shrugged nonchalantly. "but the rest of us all met Harry that day."

Luna, Ginny and Neville had no idea how this connected somehow to the sweets so Ron quickly picked up the tale, having ceased his laughing fit.

"When the trolley witch asked if we wanted anything, Harry here decided it was a great idea to buy everything." Harry giggled at the memory, she hadn't known what to get so she'd got it all. "I was in the compartment with her so she saved me from a corned beef sandwich," he shuddered at the obviously horrifying memory of the cornered beef, bringing out a laugh in Harry. "And we ate at least a billion sweets."

"Then I came in," Hermione continued. "Looking for Neville's toad. I remember how unimpressed and disgusted I was when I saw how many sweets you were scoffing, you're compartment was a mess!" She laughed at the memory of her younger self.

Harry decided it was her turn. "When we got off the Express I met Neville and found his toad, obviously I was on a bit of a sugar high so I-"

"I remember!" Neville exclaimed. "You chucked Trevor at me but it…" Now Neville too was laughing hard. "It hit Malfoy!" He managed between laughs.

Ginny and Luna blinked owlishly at the odd tale. Then what had just been said finally caught up with them and they too were laughing, tears streaming down their faces, at the image of Malfoy getting hit on the head by a toad.

"So that's what all this is?" Ginny asked, gesturing to the pile of sweets, which had temporarily been forgotten.

"Yep!" Harry confirmed with a wide smile. "In loving memory of September 1st 1991. Dig in!"

And dig in they did. Ron lunged at the Chocolate Frogs, after all these years he still collected the cards. Ginny went for a Chocoball, which she tried to share with Hermione due to the size of the treat but was declined in her offer and ended up gobbling herself. Hermione had, typically, opted for Sugar Quills, no one had been surprised when it came out that they were her favourite sweets. Neville decided on a Pumpkin Pastie and Luna had chosen an Ice Mouse. Harry picked up a packet of Bertie Botts and promptly opened it. The first bean she pulled out was a murky brown colour.

"Bets on what it may be?" She asked, smiling. She felt truly happy in that moment. She was with her friends, going to Hogwarts and eating sweets. All else was, in that moment, forgotten.

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Harry looked around the Great Hall in shock. The numbers actually seemed the same, maybe slightly more. Apparently during the years after Voldemort's first fall (the baby Harry incident, as she and her friends had come to refer to it), the obligation to attend a wizarding school was removed in Britain so many children had instead been home schooled while families, still in fear, were in hiding. Now that the threat was fully removed and none could contest it, all these families were emerging into the world again and the Ministry had reinstated the law that commanded children to attend school. This is how Harry suddenly had three new female and one male year/house mates. Elladora Pembroke, Asta Ellesmere, Rosalyn Withers and Matthew Connolly were all from Ancient and Noble Houses and had been home-schooled until now. Harry found getting to know them all incredibly excited, it wasn't every day she met other witches and wizards her age that she hadn't grown up with.

Ella, as she preferred, was eighteen years old, like Harry. She had straight auburn hair cut just below her shoulders and intriguing golden-brown eyes. She was rather small, but still taller than Harry. Ella had a younger sister, Issabella, who was entering fifth year, and a younger brother, Matthias, who was starting as a third year, both had been sorted into Gryffindor as per family tradition. She specialised in defence but, unlike Harry, wanted to pursue a carrier as a curse breaker for Gringotts. Harry made a mental note to try to introduce her to Bill Weasley some time.

Asta had long, light brown hair and bright blue eyes which reminded Harry of the ocean. She, like Ginny, was actually seventeen. She'd told them all of the exciting tales of her childhood, in which she'd basically travelled the world to stay in hiding. Harry vaguely remembered her saying she'd been in Spain for the past year, which explained why her skin was tanned unlike the usual rather pale shade found among those of British Ancient and Noble Houses. Asta too had siblings, a younger sister called Maeve, who was sorted into Ravenclaw as a Fourth Year, and an older brother called Callum aged twenty, who was attending Salem Academy, a Wizarding university in the US. Hermione was instantly intrigued and the two of them were soon deep in conversation, getting along great. Asta's major was potions and she was hoping to become a healer.

Rosalyn quite tall and very pretty, many of the boys (namedly Seamus and Dean) would not stop staring at her. With warm, chocolate brown eyes and longish, fair blonde hair, Harry understood why. At first, she'd seemed rather quiet but, as she relaxed in the welcoming atmosphere of the Gryffindors, she soon opened up and Harry found out that she was very sweet and had a great sense of humour, something that was always appreciated in Gryffindor. Rosalyn was an only child, aged eighteen, and had been staying under Fidelius Charm at her family mansion in Cornwall. She told Harry all about it and the ravenhaired girl thought it sounded like heaven. Right on the coast, lots of empty hills and valleys, rather quiet and cut off and a Quidditch pitch! Harry was thrilled to have a girl in her house/year who loved Quidditch almost as much as she did. She eagerly hinted to Rosalyn to try out for the team. Rosalyn had yet to decide what she wanted to do with her life but she expressed an interest in Charms.

Matt was the only boy to join Gryffindor in their year. He was tall with a strong build, dirty blond hair, which was gently mussed and slightly long, and he had startling bluish green eyes. Harry blushed when she'd realised that she'd been staring at him, he did not seem bothered but he did offer her a cheeky grin which only made her blush deeper. Matt had been in hiding in Sweden with his parents and two twin younger sisters, Phoebe and Bianca who were now Fifth Year Gryffindors. Matt had had a two year older brother called William who had come out of hiding aged eighteen to join the war but had sadly died. Matt was deep in conversation with Ron, Seamus and Dean talking about Weasley Wizard Wheezes, the new guy was apparently a big fan. Harry picked up on the idea that he would want to go down the same line of business some day.

Harry looked to the other tables and picked up on some new faces and missed some old ones in her year. Joining Hufflepuff were Miranda Branstone, Talitha Brocklehurst (Harry guessed this had be a cousin of Mandy Brocklehurst in Ravenclaw but she wasn't sure), Kara Melchior, Robert Balthazar, James Withers (Rosalyn's cousin) and Michael Ogden. Harry noticed that three familiar faces were missing from the yellow house. Ernie MacMillan, Wayne Hopkins and Megan Jones.

Turning her gaze the the blue table, Harry saw that, for Ravenclaw, the loss was greater. They'd lost Kevin Entwhistle, Stephen Cornfoot, Morag MacDougal and Su Li. Though Harry had never known any of them personally, her heart still ached for the loss. The newbies in her year included Cameron Rowle, Hadrian Elkins, Thomas Rasalas, Maria Astley and Larissa Hastings.

Finally Harry looked over to the Slytherin but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. Most than half her year in Slytherin had been replaced. Some had been sentenced to Azkaban, others killed and the rest had fled the country, most likely never to return. Gone was Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Bulstrode and Nott. There were two girls and two boys remaining. Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass had never spoken to Harry, they'd never become involved with the feud in anyway. Harry had no issue with them, in fact they seemed quite nice. Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini were the two boys that remained. Harry had personally vouched for Malfoy so it was her own fault that he was there, Zabini had been neutral throughout the war but Harry knew him to be close with Malfoy so she was rather weary of him. Joining them at the green table were six new faces. Willow Livius, Amira Hawthorne and Ophelia Aragon were already in conversation with the girls while Avery Carrow, Callum Selwyn and Caspar Lestrange were getting to know Malfoy and Zabini. Some of the names worried Harry at first but then she realised they'd been victims too. Forced into hiding by family members who tarnished their names. Anyway, seeing them all now, relaxed and smiling, it looked like the Slytherin House she knew was changing and she for one didn't want to ruin that.

"You all right Harry?" She felt a like tap on her shoulder and turned back to her own table to see all of her housemates now with their attention on her. She blushed realising the attention she was suddenly getting.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered slightly quietly. "Just thinking of how much has changed."

Those who understood what she meant (i.e. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Dean, Seamus and Parvati) now took their time to really look around the Great Hall. When they finally turned back to Harry she could see the conflict she was feeling written on their faces.

"Hogwarts has changed." Parvati whispered, holding back tears. She was having a bit of a hard time throughout the feast. Ever since the start, it had always been her and Lavender and now Lavender was gone. Talking to Asta had been nice but it wasn't the same. Seamus sensed her pain and put his arm around the Indian girl's shoulders and pulled her towards him, softly whispering soothing things in her ear. Harry, along with everyone else, shot a shocked look at Dean. Since when had those two been together? He shrugged, looking as confused as the rest of them but decided to let them be in this moment.

"Can I have your attention!" came Headmistress McGonagall's voice suddenly from the head table. "As you all know, there have been several changes at Hogwarts this year." There was silence, she had everyone's attention. "You can see in you're houses the increase of students in all years. Most of you have been held back a year academically, some," here she looked at Ginny and smiled. "Have been allowed to continue as you should've. I hope you will all welcome new students, whether they are new to the school or to your year. From now on there will be a zero tolerance policy for matters such as fighting and bullying. Words from the past such as 'mudblood'" here the Professor shuddered at saying the word, but all the same she continued. "'halfblood', 'pureblood', 'blood traitor' or any other referring to one or another's blood status, are banned with the consequence of suspension or possible expulsion. The point system has changed. From now on, if you feel points have been taken or given unfairly, you shall report to your head of house to state your case. Should it be found that you are only searching for points, you will be given a months detention. This policy is not to be abused." She cast a stern look over the hall before going on. "That said, I would now like to take this time to introduce your teachers, old and new. In the Herbology post, we are delighted to welcome back Professor Pomona Sprout who will also remain Head of Hufflepuff House. Your Charms professor is still Professor Filius Flitwick who will also remain Head of Ravenclaw House." Everyone clapped for the teachers, they were two that had always been fair and well liked. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff cheered a bit for their Heads of House. "The position of Potions master will be filled by Professor Marlene McKinnon who will also take up the position of Head of Slytherin House." A young woman, who couldn't be older than twenty-two, stood and received the welcoming applause. She had long black hair, rather like Harry's but slightly thicker and longer, and eyes of a startling shade of dark turquoise that Harry could clearly see from the other end of the hall. She had a soft kindness to her face, which made Harry hope that she would bring the same kindness to her lessons. She sat down as the Headmistress continued. "Professor Thora Carter will be taking my previous position as your Transfiguration professor and Head of Gryffindor House." Harry clapped a bit extra along with the rest of her house as another young woman rose at the head table. She had short dark brown hair and deep blue eyes, again Harry thought she looked like a very nice teacher.

As the Headmistress continued with introducing the teachers, Harry drifted off slightly. Her mind on the two young members of staff. There was something about them that was so familiar, she just couldn't put her finger on why. She shrugged it off, guessing it was just some fluke or something.

Without realising it, as Harry had been deep in thought, her hand had gone to her wrist and was twisting the bracelet clasped to it. An action so small it went unnoticed to all, except one. Those brown eyes watched the movement from across the room, widening in realisation as each second passed. Why else would someone wear fingerless gloves, hiding what was obviously a bracelet underneath? He blinked owlishly. This was not exactly great…

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

**Hi everyone! I'm sorry I've taken ages to update, school and stuff has been on my mind so I haven't had much time to think about this fic. But it's summer now so I will most definitely write more!**

**IMPORTANT A/N!**** Basically, a lot of people have been telling me that this is a lot like another fanfic called Unorthodox Matchmakers. I want to let you all know that I have PMed PhoenixSoar and they confirmed that they have no issue with me writing this fic. I haven't read Unorthodox Matchmakers because I want to continue writing this fic as I see the story and would rather not be affected by it. As I have now said, I have not read Unorthodox Matchmakers, I was given the idea for this fic by a friend of mine and I've just gone with it from there. If you have any other problems with it them please do PM me and I can see if there is anything I can do about any issue. Thanks!**

**Lupinismywerewolf : Thanks for letting me know that you like it so much, really encourages to keep writing!**

**darkplayer35 : I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sorry for the update taking so long!**

**baka niisn : please read the A/N**

**Sakura Lisel : Thank you so much for your support and thank you so much for reviewing, reading your review really made me so happy :)**

**rockinBallerina : To your first point, I hope you've read the A/N. I hope mine is different too but, as I've said, I really don't know. I'm not going to let it drag on too long but I do love how Harry can act around Draco because of this. I am glad you like seeing Ron grow up, that's really something I'm trying to emphasize. Thanks for reviewing!**

**RubySlytherin : Hi! I'm so happy you like it, I also love their bickering! ;) Sorry for taking so long to update but I hope it was worth the wait! Thanks for reviewing!**

**amata0221 and roos1414 : thank you for reviewing, it's because of your reviews I remembered to come back to the fic!**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE 41 FAVS AND 69 FOLLOWS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY IT MAKES ME TO SEE THAT PEOPLE LIKE MY FIC! I HOPE YOU ALL LIKE THIS CHAPTER TOO. **

**PLEASE DO REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, THE BUTTON IS THERE FOR A REASON AFTER ALL ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

"Harry, I'm giving you five seconds to get out of bed or you're going to regret it." Came Hermione's voice. "Five… Four…" On the other side of the bed, Rosalyn, Ella, Asta, Ginny and Parvati were watching with wide eyes and smirks to match. "Three…" Hermione's voice was getting dangerously sweet, not good. "Two… One…"

"I'm up!" Harry practically screamed, sitting up quick as the flick of a wand. She'd been half asleep and hadn't registered what was going on until she'd heard Hermione's last deadly sweet sounding number. "I'm up, I'm up, I'm up!"

Hermione smirked, "Oops, too late!" She smirked as she cast Aquamenti on Harry.

"ARGH!" Harry yelped as she jumped out of bed at the sigh of Hermione twirling her wand. "You're dead Mione!" And without further ado she sprinted into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Hermione turned back to the other girls whose snickers were beginning to escape their squeezed lips. "And that, is how you wake Harry." She chuckled at her friend's antics. This hadn't changed a bit since first year.

_FLASHBACK TO SEPTEMBER 2__ND__ 1991 07:31_

"Harriet you must get up!"

Harry grumbled into her pillow, why couldn't Granger just leave her alone?

"Harriet, I hate to do this but, it's for your own good."

'Wait what?' Harry barely had a chance to figure out what she meant before…

"Aquamenti." Came Granger's annoying voice and suddenly Harry was receiving a jet of water to the back of her head.

"What the hell?" Harry screamed jumping out of bed. "Why?" She demanded, advancing slowly on the bushy haired nuisance.

"It was for your own good, you should be thanking me." Was her response. "Other wise you would've been late."

Harry gave the girl the harshest glare she could muster while half asleep and dripping wet. Annoyingly, the girl was right. Harry gave the girl one last scowl before storming off into the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind her.

"Maybe next time she'll just listen to me and get out of bed in time." Hermione muttered as she picked up her books and left the tower.

_FLASHBACK OVER _

Hermione smiled at the memory. Harry had always gotten out of bed in time after that. Well, maybe not always but Hermione didn't mind, now she enjoyed attacking a sleeping Harriet Potter, though she didn't always like the consequences.

_FLASHBACK TO SEPTEMBER 2__ND__ 1991 12:35_

"ARGH!" Hermione screamed so loudly that every head in the Great Hall turned to look at her. She'd just picked up her goblet of water but when she tried to take a sip, the water squirted into her face. "Wha- wha-?" She spluttered, shocked and embarrassed, but didn't fail to notice a certain raven-haired girl trying very hard not to burst out laughing.

"Not so fun when you're the one who's soaking, is it Granger?" She called down the table, no longer trying to conceal her laughter. Hermione mustered up the worst scowl she could and shot it at Harry before picking up her books and leaving the Great Hall.

_FLASHBACK OVER_

'And that wasn't even the worst!' Hermione reminded herself, still chuckling with the others.

That was when Harry came storming out the bathroom. Luckily for her, she knew a spell to dry her hair other wise it would've been a total mess. Well, messier than usual anyway.

"Come on you lot." She grumbled as she walked past them and down to the common room.

"What's gotten into Harry?" She heard Ron ask Hermione before giving her a quick kiss.

"Oh nothing." Hermione sighed dramatically. "She'd just not a morning person. Are you Harry?"

"You've got five seconds to start running Granger or I'll hex you where you stand." Harry threatened her best friend, eyes narrowing and wand at the ready. Hermione, realising what danger she was in, didn't think twice before sprinting away leaving a group of very confused Gryffindor boys and very amused Gryffindor girls behind.

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"Oof!" Harry grunted as she collided with someone, she hadn't really been focused on where she was going, only on catching Hermione. But this definitely wasn't Hermione, she realised as they both fell onto the floor. "I'm so sor-" She began but then stopped when she realised who it was. "Oh not you again!" She moaned as she realised she was not lying on top of Draco Malfoy in the middle of a corridor.

"You know Potter," the blond drawled. "This is the second time you've crashed into me in two days. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was on purpose."

Harry glared at the git lying below her. "In your dreams Malfoy." She rolled her eyes sarcastically.

Draco studied the girl for a moment. She really did look beautiful with her soft black hair falling over her faces, her green eyes rimmed with long dark lashes, wide and innocent, and her lips so red and… 'No stop Draco!' But he couldn't help it. There was something different about her this year, something that kept catching his attention. There was a lighter edge to her. She didn't seem as troubled or worried as she had for the past years. She looked free and it suited her very well.

In the few moments of silence, Harry realised she was still lying on top of him but, for some reason, she didn't want to get up. 'What?!' Harry shocked herself thoroughly, snapping herself out of the trance and jumping to her feet.

"Erm… Right… Sorry!" She stuttered before running off, leaving Draco on the floor feeling rather lonely.

Draco shook his head as he got up of the floor. He couldn't be having these thoughts, not now! He was still waiting for his fiancée to come forth, if she was ever going to. He had someone out there, he couldn't be thinking things like this about Harriet Potter. Not now, not ever.

"Urgh, you've such an idiot!" He scolded himself quietly as he too went down the corridor Potter had gone down, going to the Great Hall.

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"Potions first thing with the Slytherins?!" Dean and Seamus exclaimed loudly as Harry finally joined them.

"Are they mental?" Ron asked nobody in particular.

"That's eight years in a row!" Neville groaned, putting his head in his hands.

"What's so bad about Potions with the Slytherins?" Matt asked, rather confused at this depressed display. The Slytherins seemed like an alright bunch to him. Asta, Ella and Rosalyn found themselves equally confused.

"They're-" Ron began but was quickly cut off by Harry.

"No they're not, Ron." She said softly. "It's a new year, remember?" She then turned to Matt and smiled shyly. "There's nothing bad about it now, we just had problems with the old lot is all."

Matt gave her a nod, showing his understanding. He also gave her a quick smile too, which caused Harry to blush just like she had the night before.

Before anyone else had a chance to say anything, Harry felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see… Blaise Zabini?!

"Potter." He gave her a civil nod. "We need to talk."

Harry looked at her friends, their faces showed no sign of understanding either. Had it been a previous year, Harry would've insisted to know what he wanted immediately or brought Hermione or Ron along with her, but it wasn't. This was a new year.

"Of course, Zabini." She got up and followed him out of the Great Hall.

Once they were out, he pulled her into a corner, looked her straight in the eyes, with a sense of urgency shining in his brown orbs, and whispered. "Pull up your sleeves."

Harry's eyes went wide. This could not be happening. "Why?" She asked, trying to remain calm.

"I know you have his bracelet." Harry gasped.

"How?" She demanded. There was no point denying it, he was a Slytherin. Slytherin's were known to be subtle but he wouldn't say such an assumption if he didn't know for sure that it was true.

"Yesterday you were twisting something on your wrist at the feast but it was covered by those gloves you're wearing. Why else would you be hiding a bracelet?" it was so simple. He made it sound so simple. Harry sighed, there was no point hiding it now. She pulled off the glove and showed him the bracelet. "Wow." He whispered, obviously shocked. "It really is you!"

"Yep." She responded awkwardly, not sure what he expected of her at this point.

"Are you going to tell him?" Zabini demanded this was his best friend after all.

"I don't know." Was Harry's reply.

Zabini examined her face and saw that she really was conflicted. Not good. "Well figure it out, and soon." He said curtly before walking away.

Harry sighed. Why couldn't her life just be simple for once?

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

"There's going to be a what?" Harry asked, shocked, as she walked to Potions with Ron and Hermione.

"A Halloween ball!" Hermione smiled. "It'll be fun, right?" Harry could see her friend's eyes already lit up at the idea of a dance. She looked down at her feet. "For you at least," Harry muttered. "You've already got a date." That was when she suddenly realised that Ron and Hermione weren't walking with her anymore. She turned around to see Ron having pushed Hermione against the wall and the two of them snogging furiously. 'Just prove my point why don't you?' Harry thought spitefully as she turned back and continued heading to Potions.

The idea of a ball put her down slightly, after all the last ball she'd been to was the Yule Ball with Fred. Fred. Her heart ached thinking about him. Maybe she hadn't loved him but he was like the older brother she never had. The Yule Ball was wonderful because of him. Then there was that one point when she was with- 'No Harry, move on!' She told herself. She didn't need to think about that right now. Anyway, Halloween Ball… She probably wouldn't go. She could go alone but that'd be quite sad.

Walking into the Potions lab, she was surprised to see she was the first one there. Apart from Professor McKinnon that was.

"Good morning Professor." Harry said, walking over to her usual seat and prepare to take out her stuff.

"Miss Potter," the Professor gave a fond smile. "No need to take your things out, I've actually assigned seats."

"Oh." Harry said, a bit shocked first by the smile and then so for the seating arrangement. She'd never had a potions professor who seemed to really care before.

"Harry Potter." Professor McKinnon said, flicking her wand. A desk immediately lit up. "That'll be your seat Harry."

"Ok, thanks." She'd been called by her first name, nickname even. That was slightly odd, especially since she'd never even met the woman. Or wait-

Just as Harry was about to ask, a group of Slytherins showed up. It was actually all the Slytherins. It seemed every one of them was taking Potions for NEWT.

"Good morning students!" Professor McKinnon greeted them. "When I call your name a desk will light up, that will be your assigned desk. Please make this easier by not protesting." Strangely enough, none of them looked like they'd planned on protesting in the first place. 'A nice change from the old snakes.' Thought Harry.

Before she could begin the role call, the Gryffindors finally showed up. All except Parvati and Ginny that is, neither was taking Potions this year. Harry facepalmed at their lateness, rowdiness and the messy looks of her two bestfriends in particular. "Good morning Gryffindors!" They were greeted and they all mumbled back some form of "Hello" or "Good morning". "I will leave it to you to figure out what to do when your name is called." She said. "Ophelia Aragon." The girl gracefully walked over to the newly lit desk. "Avery Carrow." Followed suit. When "Matthew Connolly" was called, he'd pretty much figured out what to do.

As the names were called, Harry began to notice that on every table, there were two from each house, a boy and a girl from each. Harry was a bit disappointed to be separated from Ron and Hermione but knew it was probably best that way. She was on a table with Matt and then Caspar Lestrange and Amira Hawthorne from Slytherin. Hermione was with Dean, Ophelia Aragon and Avery Carrow. Ron was with Ella, Willow Livius and Callum Selwyn.

When they figured out they'd be working with their opposites, Harry could see both her friends flare with a slight jealousy. Both Livius and Carrow were rather good looking, but Harry hoped they'd realise they were having the same thought and move on. Luckily Harry saw their eyes catch and the smiles exchanged, Harry let out a breath. Phew!

"Ok!" Professor McKinnon called, gaining their attention. "Now this will be your partner for the year so I'd like you to get to know each other. You have the whole lesson and by the end I was you all to say something about your partner that nobody would ever guess about them. Go on!" She encouraged and sat down comfortably in her chair with a book.

The whole class was a bit stunned at first but soon relaxed and began talking.

"So," Harry began, a bit unsure of what to say. "Lestrange, you-"

"Call me Caspar, please." He quickly cut in. Harry looked at him curiously and saw his deep blue eyes, nearly begging her. Before she had a chance to ask, he sensed the question and explained. "Lestrange only reminds me of my uncles and aunt, not exactly pleasant thoughts or memories associated as you can probably guessed." Harry nodded, understanding. She hadn't exactly had the greatest experience with Bellatrix, though she'd never met Rudolphus or Rabastan. "Am I allowed to call you Harriet, or would you rather I call you Potter?"

Harry looked into his eyes again and, seeing nothing but sincerity, said, "Harriet works fine for me."

Caspar visibly relaxed at this. "I don't even understand why you call each other by your surnames to begin with." He sighed running his hand through his hair.

Harry was about to answer when she realised that she didn't even know. "I'm not actually sure. I guess it was started by those who thought they were too superior to call others by their names but I personally don't get it either. Seeing as ones family used to mean a lot, I guess it was stating one's position, going by one's surname." She wondered aloud. Caspar followed her every word, nodding in agreement.

"So," he leaned towards her. "Want to help me with my mission?" He gave her a cheeky grin. "I have to figure out what the world doesn't already know about Harriet Lily Potter, the Chosen One, the Girl-Who-Lived, the Defeater of You-Know-Who."

Despite herself, Harry could not help but giggle. The amount of stupid titles and names she'd been saddled with was ridiculous. "Well…" She began, trying to come up with something, but found nothing. "I don't know." She shrugged. "Everyone has stuck their nose in my business so many times I don't know what there's left. Why don't we start with you? Who is Caspar Lestrange really? I want to know all about you!" She smiled encouragingly, her smile soon caught on and got Caspar going.

"Ok… My name is Caspar Alphard Lestrange. I hate my middle name and my surname. I'm called Caspar because I was named after my mother's father who died a week before I was born. I was actually meant to be called Tarazed, so I kind of owe the old man for dying at the perfect time." Harry laughed outloud, she couldn't imagine Caspar, or anyone for that matter, being called Tarazed. "The name Alphard was chosen because 'it sounds proper' according to my father. According to my mother, father was drunk at the time." He laughed here, Harry joined in. She found that Caspar really was rather easy going and easy to get on with. She liked laughing so much. "I have a younger sister called Juliet Elara Lestrange who is in Third Year and she is my life, I don't know what I'd do without her." Harry sighed, so he had a soft side too. 'So sweet!' She thought. "I've been in Britain in hiding since age two, we were in our mansion outside of Colchester and I never left the grounds until yesterday. I was meant to come to Hogwarts as a First Year but a week before, my parents picked up on whispers about Voldemort returning and decided to pull me out. I didn't talk to them for two whole months because I was so upset. I am a bit of a prodigy at Transfiguration. I got all Os in my OWLs, which I had to sit at home. The sorting hat wanted to place me in Gryffindor but I asked to be placed in Slytherin because of family tradition and because Juliet had already been placed there. That's pretty much all I can think of…" His talking slowly died out as he ran out of things to say. "You got anything?" He asked Harry.

"I think so… It might actually be a lot that you don't know. So, my name is Harriet Lily Potter. I was expected to be a boy, there was a mix up with the scans at St. Mungo's. I was meant to be called Harry James but when they realised I was a girl, I became Harriet Lily instead but Harry stuck as a nickname much to my mum's chagrin. I lived in an abusive home until last year. I knew nothing of magic until the day I turned eleven and Hagrid came to find out why I hadn't responded to my Hogwarts letter." Harry didn't really know why she was telling him this but now that she'd started she realised just how much she'd needed to let it all go. "I lived with my mother's sister, her husband and their son. After how I was treated I don't called them aunt, uncle or cousin, I don't even consider them family. I lived in the cupboard under the stairs, that was my bedroom until my first Hogwarts letter arrived and had Cupboard Under The Stairs written on it. Then I was given Dudley's second bedroom. I was treated worse than a house elf. I was cooking for them from age four. Cleaning from age three. Mowing the lawn age five and so on. I was often beaten for things that I didn't do. When I came to Hogwarts I had many broken bones that had never healed and other physical problems. My eyes had been ruined by glasses of the wrong prescription. I was suffering from severe malnutrition due to barely being fed. I was far too short and you could count my ribs and even see the broken ones. They called me a freak, let Dudley bully me, let Dudley bully anyone who wanted to befriend me." She paused for a moment but didn't look Caspar in the eyes. "The summer before my second year at Hogwarts, a house elf levitated a cake and dropped it on Vernon's client's head. I was blamed. I was locked in my room for a week. Eight locks were placed on my door. Prison bar placed on the window. All of my Hogwarts stuff was already locked under the stairs. I was there for a week before my friend, Ron, came with his brothers in a flying car and rescued me. When I came to Hogwarts, people expected me to have grown up in a loving family and be really spoilt. Even after meeting me, they didn't let go of that theory and decided to make my life hell for it." Another pause. "Anyway, onto lighter stuff." She kept going despite Caspar's attempt to protest. "When I came to Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat wanted to place me in Slytherin but I refused because I knew that Voldemort had come from Slytherin and Draco Malfoy had gone to Slytherin. He'd been a git to Ron and Ron was my first friend so I didn't like him very much." She stopped again, a longer pause this time. "And from there, everyone knows about my life."

Finally she looked up at Caspar who was looked at her with sad eyes. As tears began forming in her eyes, he put his arm around her shoulder and tried to comfort her. Harry was so mad at herself, she shouldn't be crying, she shouldn't have told him all of that.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, sniffling slightly.

"For what?" He asked softly, rubbing her shoulder soothingly.

"I shouldn't have dumped all that on you."

"You haven't told anyone that before, have you?" He asked. Harry couldn't fin any words so she just shook her head before burying her head in his chest. "Don't cry, Harriet. It's alright. It's over now." Those words were what she needed. It was over. She quickly lifted her arm to wipe away her tears.

"Thank you." She said to him softly.

"Anytime. I'll always be here if you need to talk again." Harry gave him a small smile, still wiping away the last few tears. She may not have known him for too long, but she did trust him. "Harriet lower your arm now." He said suddenly. She looked at him confused. He leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "The bracelet on your wrist. I'm guessing it's a secret you want to keep as you haven't come out with it yet. You've got a glove on your other hand so I'm assuming you should have another somewhere, check your bag now."

In that moment, Harry could've kissed him. Caspar was a life saver and he understood. He wasn't threatening her like Blaise had, but trying to help her. She quickly dove into her bag and found the glove, she wasted no time in pulling it on.

"Thank you so much." She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Anytime." Was all he had time to say in return before Professor McKinnon suddenly stood up and cleared her throat. Harry could've swore that the professor looked slightly disturbed by something but she couldn't be sure.

"Ok class!" She called. "When I call your name, I want you to stand, say the name of your partner and tell us something we don't know about them."

Harry suddenly panicked, what would Caspar choose to say about her? Surely he would tell of the Dursleys?

"Ophelia." Everyone looked slightly confused at the use of only the student's first name, it wasn't normally done at Hogwarts. Then again, times were changing so why not?

"My partner is Dean Thomas," Here the professor held up her hand and said, "First names only, that goes for all of you!" The moment of shock didn't last long as Arag- no, Ophelia was told to go on.

"My partner is Dean," she began again. "and he has a love for law." The Gryffindors were gobsmacked, even Seamus didn't know this.

"Law, mate?" The Irish boy exclaimed, thoroughly shocked. His friend just grinned and shrugged.

"Moving on!" Professor McKinnon's voice rang out. "Avery."

Avery Carrow stood. "My partner is Hermione and she has had a crush on her current boyfriend since First Year." He shot a smirk at a now furious, blushing Hermione who was glaring solidly at him. Harry looked over to see Ron with his jaw close to hitting the table. Harry had actually known this fact about Hermione, she also knew the feeling had been mutual.

"Matthew."

"My partner is Amira and she has a phobia of dogs."

"Tracy."

"My partner is Seamus and he wishes he was a Slytherin."

"WHAT?" Dean, Ron and Neville exploded. "HE WHAT?" They demanded. Seamus shot them a cheeky grin before shrugging nonchalantly, his eyes on his best mate. Harry grinned at their antics. They were hopeless those two.

"Messers Thomas, Weasley and Longbottom, please sit down!" McKinnon demanded. "Asta." She tried to move on.

"My partner is Callum and until he was five, he lived underwater in a Mer village."

There were a few oohs and aahs at that. Harriet not included, she was too busy shuddering at the memory of the Mer people in the Black Lake.

"Seamus."

"My partner is the lovely Tracey here," He announced exaggeratingly, Tracey looked terified. "And she has a poster of Gilderoy Lockhart next to her bed which she kissed every night before bed!" The joker took a bow before reclaiming his seat. Everyone was silent. Some at the idea of her having a Gilderoy Lockhart poster and kissing it, others were just wondering how he'd managed to get such a secret out of her. Maybe he should've been a Slytherin after all.

"Git!" Tracey slapped the back of his head before crossing her arms and scowling at everyone.

"Ok class… Moving on." Even McKinnon seemed slightly put off by that secret. "Hermione?"

"My partner is Avery and he has a scar on his head from when he walked into a table this summer having brewed a potion wrong and taken a sip of it. The potion deaged him to age four and he spent a week in St. Mungo's." A few snickers came from around the class. Harry heard McKinnon whisper something about, "Going to be a great year for Potions… Easy job, huh Minnie?"

"Daphne?"

"My partner is Neville and he only seemed like a s- someone with not a lot of magic in our first few years because he was using his father's wand which wasn't the right match for him."

"Amira."

"My partner is Matthew and though he's only been at Hogwarts for a day, he already has a huge crush on someone." Giving the typical 'Slytherin smirk' she sat down as Dean, Seamus, Ron and Neville began wolf whistling, much to Matt's embarrassment.

"Caspar."

Harry held her breath, what was he going to say?

"My partner is Harriet," He began. Then he looked down at her and gave a reassuring smile.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

**And here is your latest update :) I find suddenly I just can't stop writing this fic… Anyway, I hope you all like it! Please let me know what you think! The review button loves to be clicked ;)**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed after the last chapter!**

**Tara Rose : Thank you so much, that means a lot to me!**

**bloomnskyrules : Yep it was Blaise! Hope this chapter came soon enough for you :) thanks for reviewing, really makes my day!**

**Numenor16 : I appreciate that you planned on letting me know. Thanks for reviewing and I hope you like this chapter! **

**The 13****th**** Heart : I wrote the first chapter with my friend, she gave me the vault number telling me it was written somewhere that this was the Malfoys official vault number. When I next see her I plan on asking whether or not she read Unorthodox Matchmakers and find out if that's how all this started. I really do hope that my story is going differently to Unorthodox Matchmakers, I added all these OCs just for that reason. I'm glad you like my story and I hope you like this chapter! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Like I said: please do review, always encourages me to keep writing!**

**Oh and one more thing! **

**I'm looking for a Beta Reader for this story. If anyone is interested, please PM me. Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

"And her parents thought she was going to be a boy."

Harry sighed; that wasn't something that meant anything to her. Caspar flashed her a smile as he sat down, Harry smiled back and nodded as thanks for keeping her secrets.

However, though Harry may not care, everyone else most certainly did. Or, maybe care was the wrong word. They all just seemed slightly stunned that the Golden Girl was meant to be a boy. Only one person seemed to properly react, that was Professor McKinnon. She, for some unfathomable reason, seemed to be trying to stifle laughter.

"Moving on…?" Harry asked uncertainly, trying to snap her classmates out of their odd trance. "It's not that big a deal, people!" She protested.

"Oh… Yes… Erm…" Professor McKinnon stuttered, trying to regain a straight face. "Um… Willow?"

"My partner is Ronald and he has loved his girlfriend since First Year." The girl announced in a teasing, singsong voice.

'Yes! Now they know, finally!' Harry smirked at her equally embarrassed best friends.

"Neville."

"My partner is Daphne and she wishes that Hogwarts didn't have the House system."

Now that gave everyone something to think about, Hogwarts without houses… that would be weird! The whole class shuddered at the simultaneous thought.

"Draco."

"My partner is Elladora and she hates her name."

"Elladora."

"My partner is Draco and he wishes he'd had a childhood."

That statement stunned everyone, they all understood it but just had not expected to hear it.

"Harry."

'Again she called me Harry!' She thought as she stood up. 'But she called everyone else their full names…'

"My partner is Caspar and he loves his sister more than anything else and he'd do anything to protect her."

This earned a few aws from the girls but Caspar didn't seem at all affected.

"Callum."

"My partner is Asta and she has never ridden a broom."

Harry made sure she'd remember and fix that!

"Dean."

"My partner is Ophelia and she wishes she wasn't the heiress to the Ancient and Noble House of Aragon."

"Ronald."

"My partner is Willow and she's had a crush on the same guy for exactly 10 years from today."

"Looks like Seamus isn't the only git here!" Grumbled the girl in question. Ron looked smug, having gotten his revenge.

"Rosalyn."

"My partner is Blaise and he can't actually speak Italian."

Blaise glared at her. Draco, Daphne and Tracey were laughing at him. He'd been going on since First Year about being bilingual.

"Blaise."

"My partner is the she-devil over there," he grumbled, not paying attention to the stern look he received from their teacher. "And she ran away to a muggle village when she was eight."

"Seven actually." Rosalyn chimed in, looking rather smug over her feat.

McKinnon let out a breath; she'd probably been waiting a long time for that to end. "Ok class, thank you for enlightening us all. You are dismissed."

There was a huge shuffling as the class sorted their stuff and began to pile out of the potions lab. Before she could go, Caspar grabbed Harry's arm and whispered, "I'll be around if you ever need to talk."

"Thanks." She said softly, a genuine grateful smile on her face.

"Harry?" She was suddenly called. "Could you stay behind please?"

Harry looked at Professor McKinnon curiously but could see no necessary reason to refuse. She turned to Hermione and Ron and said, "I'll meet you guys later." And she watched them leave.

"Do I know you Professor?" She asked, unable to help herself anymore. "You call me Harry, not Harriet, though you called the rest of the class by their full names. You seemed extra affected by my 'secret'" here she added mock quotation mark with her fingers. "And you just seem… Familiar." She concluded.

"I wasn't sure if you'd remember me. I wasn't sure if I should say anything…" She scuffled awkwardly around the room, shuffling papers, pushing in seats. Her hands were wringing, she was obviously nervous. Then she looked at Harry. "I can't believe how much you've grown Prongslette." She sighed.

Harry gasped and took a step back. Sirius had given that nickname, Prongslette, to her. Only he, her parents and Remus had used it when she was just a baby. Luckily the traitor Pettigrew never picked it up, so she didn't have to associate it with him. "How do you know that name?" She asked accusingly, her eyes narrowing and hand twitching to reach for her wand.

"You really don't remember me, do you?" The professor sighed sadly, her dark turquoise eyes beginning to shimmer with tears.

That was when Harry recognised something. Something in her eyes, that was far too familiar to shrug off. The way she was looking at Harry. Suddenly it clicked.

_FLASHBACK TO JUNE 1981_

"Hello little Prongslette!" cooed Sirius to his adorable goddaughter, basking in the adoration shining in her bright green eyes.

"Pafoo! Pafoo!" the child laughed, her chubby hands reaching towards him.

"She's adorable, Siri!"

Baby Harry turned towards the new voice. It was a pretty woman with long, thick black hair and deep turquoise eyes. Harry found herself lost in those mysterious eyes.

"Pup?" Sirius picked her up and threw her into the air. "Still in there, baby girl?"

Harry giggled. She liked it when Padfoot made her fly!

"Pafoo who dat?" She asked, pointing at the pretty woman again who was smiling fondly at her and her godfather.

"Who, Prongslette?" Sirius teased. "This?" He pulled the woman closer.

"Yes! Yes! Who, Pafoo?" The baby asked again.

"This," Sirius smiled before pulling the woman closer still until she was in embrace with him and his goddaughter. "This is Marlene."

"Mawlie?" The baby asked, testing the name. "Mawlie!" She smiled her 'one hundred watt' smile, as Lily had named it. Sirius and Marlene weren't sure what a watt was but they were too busy staring at the adorable baby clapping her hands and laughing. "Mawlie!" She said again, reaching for the woman who gladly took her into her arms.

"Marlene and I are going to get married, Prongslette." Sirius tickled her, loving her cute giggles.

"Mawwy?" The baby repeated. "Wike mummy and daddy?"

"Yes, baby girl." Marlene sighed contentedly. "Just like your mummy and daddy."

"Yay!" Harry cooed happily. "Pafoo and Mawlie!" She giggled as Sirius leaned in and kissed his fiancée.

_FLASHBACK OVER_

"Marlie." Harry uttered, looking up at her professor who was looking at her with a hopeful expression on her face. As soon as she remembered, she rushed over to Marlene who gladly opened her arms to her adopted goddaughter. "Where have you been Marlie? Why didn't you come for me?" she suddenly exclaimed, burying her face in the familiar shoulder.

"Oh baby girl, I wish I could've!" She sighed, stroking Harry's hair soothingly. "When Sirius… I just couldn't deal with it. I didn't know what to do. By the time I'd come to find you, you were gone. I'm sorry Prongslette! Had I know what you were going through…"

Harry pulled away from the hug to look to look at Marlene. "I was right, you did hear all I said didn't you?"

"I didn't mean to, honestly Harry." Marlene said softly, she hadn't meant to anger Harry.

"It's ok." Harry said, she wasn't angry. Then suddenly, she remembered something Marlene had said. "You don't know do you? You don't know about Sirius." Marlene looked confused, Harry's point was proven. "Sirius didn't betray my parents and he didn't kill Pettigrew." Before Marlene had a chance to protest, Harry sat her down and told her the full story.

"Oh Sirius!" Marlene sobbed. Harry hugged her tightly and together they sat and cried.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

"Harry what happened?" Hermione demanded when her friend finally appeared in the Common Room.

"Later." Harry muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. Hermione gave a quick nod to show her understanding. "So what did I miss?" She lounged on the couch between Ron and Rosalyn.

"I don't know," Seamus replied loudly, leaning in from the armchair he had claimed. "What did little Harriet miss?" He asked no one in particular.

Harry scowled a bit at being called Harriet; only a few people called her that. Usually, people she was on a first name basis with, called her Harry. But she didn't care about that now, something about the exaggerated tone Seamus had used, told her she'd missed something big.

"Well there was that one thing…" Dean chimed in.

"With the two…" Ron continued. Earning a betrayed glare from his best friend for going along with his dorm mates' antics.

"But surely Harry doesn't want to hear about that!" Matt added, winking at Harry who rolled her eyes.

"Is someone actually going to tell me?" She asked.

"But what would be the fun in that, Harry?" Rosalyn asked, far too innocently for Harry's liking.

"After all, this is rather funny!" Ella added.

"And you couldn't really be mad at us." Ginny joined in.

"Could you Harry?" Hermione finished for the group. A wide smirk on her face.

"Oh don't be so mean all of you!" Parvati scolded them, her eyes however showed her amusement.

"It's not even that big a deal." Asta seemed to be in the exact same position as Parvati.

"So what is it?" Harry demanded, practically begging to be let into the loop. Her curiosity had just been built up by their bantering and she was practically dying to know.

All of them exchanged eye contact, wide smiles playing on their faces.

"Neville asked Luna to the Ball!" The boys exclaimed.

"And Luna said yes!" The girls squealed.

Only then did Harry realise that Neville had been the only one not to join in. He was sitting by the fire, blushing madly at his friends' exclamations.

"Good for you Nev!" Harry called to him, truly happy for her friend. She'd known his feelings since their Fifth Year when they'd been in the DA together. She thought it was cute that he'd finally wracked up the courage to ask her out. Kill a huge snake, easy as pie for Neville. But asking out the girl of his dreams was a whole other story. "Anyone else got a date to tell us about?" She asked jokingly but was instantly intrigued by some guilty faces.

Ginny was the first to speak up. "Cameron Rowle asked me during Care of Magical Creatures." She said, barely above a whisper. The smile on her face gave away how happy she was about this. Ron however was not as glad.

"What?" He demanded. "And why didn't I know about this?"

"Because you're my brother not my mother!" Ginny shot back.

"Still you should've-"

"Ron, give your sister a break!" Hermione cooled him down. "It's obvious she likes him and it's not like she's going with Theodore Nott."

"Hey that was one time!" Ginny protested while four other voices chimed in asking "Who?"

"Old Slytherin in our year." Harry explained. "Ok, ok, moving on shall we…?"

"Callum asked me during Potions." Asta chimed in but before anyone could comment, she was pulled away and grilled about the guy, by Parvati. Harry smiled sadly. Asta was like a new Lavender only smarter and with common sense obviously.

"I asked Victoria Frobisher, year below from Ravenclaw, on the way back from Potions. She said yes." Dean blushed slightly but his darker skin hid it.

"Aw is Deany crushing on a Sixth Year?" Seamus teased causing everyone to laugh. During this laughter, Seamus stood up and tried to look… Official? Basically he straightened his tie, which didn't do much as it was really loose, and tried to flatten his hair, which did nothing as his hair was almost as untameable as Harry's father's was rumoured to have been. He then announced in the most ridiculous voice Harry had ever heard him use (which was a lot), "I plan to ask Tracey Davis!"

They all burst out laughing.

"What the girl from Potions who seems to hate you?" Dean asked between rounds of laughter.

"The very same!" The Irish leprechaun grinned cheekily. "Trust me, come Halloween, she'll be mine!"

"You realise she's a person, not a possession Seamus?" Hermione asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes. They'd all seen Seamus's over eager interaction with his Slytherin partner during Potions. It had been obvious, her disdain of working with him and just him in general. Well all except Harry, she'd been a bit wrapped up in her own conversation…

"Oh yes of course!" Seamus replied eagerly. "But she's not just a person, she's a woman." He sighed dramatically before taking back his seat. Harry rolled her eyes at him and she hoped he'd never changed. Through it all, he was still that First Year that blew everything up and loved doing it.

"Classy Seam," Neville sighed. "Real classy." This got everyone laughing again.

Finally Ron spoke up. "Well I most definitely know who I'm going with." And he grabbed Hermione's hand, pulled her around the sofa and into his lap where he proceeded to snog her senseless. Hermione most definitely didn't protest. Several wolf whistles and aws later, the couple finally pulled apart, gasping for breath.

Harry watched them snuggled and smile cheekily at each other, eyes sparkling in adoration of the other. She wished she could have something even half a wonderful as what they had. But she knew she couldn't. Not as long as she had this dratted bracelet stuck on her wrist promising her to him. That is how she decided to get up and finally confront him and ask him to take it off. After all, what else would he say? It's not like he'd want to marry her anyway.

As she got up and was walking out of the Common Room however, she was suddenly called back. "Harry?"

Harry turned around to see Matt following her. "Can I ask you something?" He asked, looking rather hopeful for a reason Harry didn't really understand.

Having a lot on her mind, Harry was too distracted to even think about what he wanted to ask her. She was too set on going to see Malfoy now before she chickened out. "I'm sorry, I really need to go do something." She apologised quickly. "Ask me when I come back?" But she didn't wait for an answer or see the look of disappointment appear on his face, she just ran. She had to get to Malfoy.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

"Malfoy!" Harry called as she saw him, Zabini and Caspar walking towards where she knew the entrance to the Slytherin Common to be. 'So I'll call him Caspar but the others by their last names…' Harry wondered. 'Habit I guess.' "We need to talk." She said curtly as the blond turned around. She looked at Zabini; he gave a quick nod, as he knew what was about to happen. Caspar, however, looked confused but understood her sense of urgency.

"Draco, we'll wait for you down the corridor." He said and pulled a protesting Zabini away with him.

"Yes?" Malfoy folded his arms, waiting for her to come out with whatever she needed to tell him.

Harry took a deep breath. "I'm your fiancée, your bracelet came to me." She said a quickly as she could.

"What?" Draco asked, he hadn't understood a word of what she'd just said.

Harry sighed and said extra slowly, now looking up and meeting his eyes. "I'm your fiancée, your bracelet came to me."

Draco froze, that is not what he'd expected to hear. He processed the words in his mind and it suddenly clicked. This was the reason why he was finally accepting his feelings for her, why he'd felt this sudden connection to her.

Harry pulled up her sleeve and pulled off the glove. Draco sighed when he saw the bracelet, it suited her perfectly. "You can take it off now." Harry said.

Draco froze once again as realisation seeped into his mind. This was Harry Potter. Of course she didn't want to marry him. She'd only come to him because she wanted it off. She wanted out. Draco could've cried then, he regretted all those years of taunting and teasing her. She hated him. She was his perfect other half and he'd made her hate him.

"I- I-" He stuttered, not sure what to say. "You have to give me a chance. Please?" He finally managed, very quiet, not looking up.

Harry went into shock this was not what she had expected. She'd thought he'd practically rip it off her and run away. No, he wasn't meant to actually want her to marry him. He hated her. She hated him. 'Or do you?' A small voice nagged her at the back of her mind but she ignored it. She couldn't believe this was happening. She glared at the blond before her, no long able to hide her true feelings about the situation.

"All my life," Harry started, her voice dangerously low. Draco didn't know what to think or what might now happen but he certainly dreaded it, seeing the look in her eyes. "I've been told I have to do things. I've been told I must do things. I had to live with the Dursleys. I had to stay at school for all holidays. I had to miss out on Hogsmeade visits. I had to compete in that blasted tournament. I had to teach half the school Defence. I had to help the Headmaster into insanity. I had to search for Horcruxes. I had to let Voldemort kill me. I had to be the one to kill Voldemort. There has always been something I have to do." Her voice was now getting louder and her eyes beginning to narrow. Draco felt his heart ache as he realised where she was going with this. He felt like a complete jerk. "Now, this bracelet suddenly appears on my wrist and I'm told I have to marry you. Again I'm forced into something that I don't want to do. For Merlin's sake, I've never even had a boyfriend and now suddenly I have to marry you? No!" She shouted, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Everything is meant to be over! I'm meant to have a normal life! The last thing I want is to be forced into a magically made engagement and marry a guy who has hated me and made my life hell for eight years. On that note, why do you want me to give you a chance? You. Hate. Me." She spelled it out for him, barely holding herself together now. "I don't know what you're playing at or what angle your trying to take but please, just take it off. I can't deal with this anymore." She finally gave up her glare and looked straight into his eyes, begging him with all she had left.

Draco didn't say a word. He didn't know where to start. He wanted to pull this girl into his arms and wipe away every last tear but he knew he couldn't. He wanted to take back every horrible thing he'd ever said or done. But looking into her pained eyes, he couldn't find the words to say anything. Instead, he gently took her wrist and held the bracelet, willing it to come off. As a small click was heard, the bracelet fell limply into his hand. With this came a sense of a magical wind rushing through his body, a sense of loss. Harry, too, felt this loss but didn't do anything. She couldn't.

"Thank you, Draco." She whispered before running away, the mature thing to do.

As soon as she'd turned a corner, she slumped against a wall and lowered herself to the floor where she brought her knees to her chest, lowered her head and cried. Harry wasn't sure what had come over her, she never really cried. Only during the summer after Fifth Year had she properly cried for Sirius but that was it, until now. Now she was crying for everything. She cried for her loss of childhood, she cried for the fear she'd felt facing Voldemort all those times, the fear she'd always had to hide. She cried for Cedric, her first crush, for Fred, her 'older brother', for Dumbledore, her mentor and grandfather figure, for Remus and Tonks and poor little Teddy who was left without his parents. She cried for all the pain she'd ever felt. And now, now she cried for breaking things off with Draco. It wasn't that she was crying because she suddenly wanted to marry him. Harry couldn't explain why she felt sad for it. The feeling was just there.

Harry didn't realise until a few minutes later, when her sobs finally began to cease and her eyes had run out of tears, that there was someone sitting besides her with their arm around her shoulder whispering soothing sounds. Harry recoiled only to see it was Caspar. Harry wasn't really sure what she thought of Caspar yet. She'd only met the boy a couple of hours ago but she felt like she trusted him. There was something about him that made Harry feel at ease. Despite herself, Harry leaned into his embrace as his arms encircled her making her feel protected and cared for. It was a new feeling for Harry but she decided that she liked it. She didn't try to protest.

"What are you doing here Caspar?" She mumbled into his robes, which she noticed smelt strongly of pine leaves, mint and… Treacle tart?

"Hush…" Caspar soothingly rubbed her shoulder. "Draco came back rather shaken up and I figured you may be there same, so I came looking for you. I'm glad I did now. Are you all right? What happened?"

Harry hiccoughed and sniffled. She didn't know where to start. She didn't want to throw anymore of her troubles at the guy she'd only just met him, after all. She shook her head and bowed her head further.

"There there," he comforted her. "It's ok, you don't have to tell me."

So she didn't, instead they just sat there in silence, his arms wrapped around her. It was as if the whole world had just stopped and they were the only two in existence.

Harry's feelings were confusing her. She didn't understand this connection she seemed to have to Caspar, she wasn't sure how far it extended, and, as always, she didn't know what to do. So, she just sat there and let him comfort her. She'd deal with the rest later, she decided.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

Draco stared, stunned, at the spot where Harry had stood only moments ago. He looked down at the bracelet in his hand and took a deep breath. It was done. He couldn't describe his feelings. He was just… Empty.

Slowly he turned around and walked down the hall to where he knew his friends would be wait, still clutching the bracelet.

"Drake?" Blaise said as his friend walked past him, expression blank. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," mumbled Draco, not in the mood for conversation. He'd just lost the perfect girl, the girl of his dreams, before evening realising she'd been with him the whole time. He felt like such an idiot. Then there was the fact that he hadn't even realised what the other side to the engagement would be like. His other half wasn't searching for the perfect groom, she was waiting to be allowed to live first. Yep, it was official. Draco was a jerk.

Draco was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn't even realise his two friends could see the bracelet. He missed their shared look of worry. He didn't notice one of them turn around and run back the way they'd come. He was too busy mourning his loss.

"Ok Draco," said Blaise, catching his friend's shoulder and turning him around. "You've got to snap out of this."

Draco didn't say anything.

"Not all is lost," Blaise continued. "I'm sure if you give her time and a chance to warm up to you, it'll get better."

Draco didn't say anything.

"Look at it this way," Blaise kept going. "The ball is coming up. Maybe, if you try just to be better to her, you can ask her to go with you."

Even after this, Draco didn't say anything.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

**And it's another update, yay! Hope you like it!**

**Now I'm going to set up a poll for Harry's date to the Ball. Keep in mind a relationship may not last with whoever it may be… Your choices are:**

**Draco**

**Caspar**

**Matt (did anyone pick up the hints at this one…?)**

**Please PM me or review to let me know who your favourite is!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**To those who reviewed…**

**Dragones : Glad you're enjoying it! Hope this chapter came soon enough :) thanks for reviewing!**

**lorren16 : Thank you, I'm so happy you are liking it! Thank you for reviewing!**

**The 13****th**** Heart : Congratulations, you guessed correctly! I'm so glad you liked the last chapter, I hope this one was just as good for you. Thank you so much for your support, I can't even begin to describe how happy it makes me! Hope this chapter came soon enough ;) wouldn't want you to run out of breath! Thank you so much for reviewing!**

**roos1414 : updated!**

**Thanks also to all of you who have followed or liked this story! Seeing what a positive response it gets really makes my day and makes writing this so much more fun!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

By the time Harry re-joined the Gryffindors, it was lunch and they were all already in the Great Hall.

"Harry!" called Rosalyn as she entered the Hall. "Where've you been?"

Seeing that she had Hermione and Ron's attention, as well as all her other housemates, she lifted both her arms to muss up her hair a bit, very casually actually. It had the exact effect that Harry had desired. Her robes and shirt- sleeves fell to her shoulders exposing her now bare forearms. Ron's eyes went wide but he recovered surprisingly quickly and smiled at her. Hermione's reaction was more a questioning look, but she must've known that Harry planned on telling her later because she soon dropped it.

"Oh just around," Harry said as she sat on the bench where Ella and Asta had cleared a space for her. "You know; things to do and people to see."

At Harry's blasé tone, some of her friends looked a bit confused but soon shrugged it off. They all thought it was a nice change to see Harry so relaxed.

She really was relaxed this time. Harry really felt free, even freer than she had after defeating Voldemort for the last time. She felt as though she could joke light-heartedly, sit for hours without doing anything important, not go to bed and lie awake for hours with troubles on her mind and really enjoy the company of her friends. It felt great. Harry smiled again and helped herself to some food.

"So," she said. "What classes do people have after lunch?" she asked still grateful for the double free period she'd just had.

"Well," Hermione was the obvious choice to answer; she knew everyone's timetable. Nobody knew how but they knew, by now, not to question Hermione's mind. "Neville, Ella, Rosalyn, Ron, you and I have Arithmancy. Matt, Dean and Asta have Care of Magical Creatures. Parvati, Ginny and Seamus have a free period. They're all single periods. Then we all have a single period of Transfiguration."

They all stared at her. 'How does someone store all that information in their head?' Harry thought, jaw about to hit the table.

"Thank Merlin we've got Mione to remember our schedules for us!" Seamus grinned, raising his goblet to toast her. Everyone else followed suit by lifting their own.

"To Mione!" they all but shouted gaining the attention of pretty much everyone else in the Hall. They took hug swigs of their drinks before slamming down their goblets and erupting in laughter. Hermione hid her face in Ron's chest, obviously embarrassed by their, very, public display of gratitude.

Up at the Head Table, all of the teachers were watching the Seventh Year Gryffindors with fond smiles. It was nice to see them all so lively again. It'd been far too long in their opinions.

They sat there laughing for at least ten minutes straight, occasionally calming down but then they'd look at someone else and start all over again. It was amazing in Harry's opinion. Just a few months ago the school had been no more than a prison to them and now here they were laughing like they didn't have a care in the world.

"So Harry," Seamus said once his laughter had finally ceased. "When are you holding Quidditch trials?"

Harry's eyes lit up. She'd forgotten about Quidditch and being captain. She was about to give him a rough idea when they were suddenly distracted by an unfamiliar younger Gryffindor, with light brown hair but easily recognizable golden-brown eyes, approaching their table.

"Ella?" she tapped their friend on her shoulder to get her attention, looking a bit nervously at the other Seventh Years.

Ella turned around and smiled. "Issa!" she said before turning back to the rest of her year. "Guys, this is my little sister, Issabella."

"Hello."

"Hey."

"Hi."

"Nice to meet you." They all chorused. The younger girl looked a bit overwhelmed by their eagerness to meet her but nonetheless said, "Hello," before turning back to her sister and saying, "Mother just sent a letter saying she needs you to send your requirements for a dress for the ball to Amalia."

Ella nodded. "Thank you Issa."

Before Ella had a chance to ask anything else, her little sister was already walking away. "I got to go now, my friend's waiting for me," she said, apologetically. "See you later Els!" and she quickly headed towards the doors of the hall where a girl with dirty blond hair and bluish green eyes was waiting for her.

They all looked between the other girl and Matt a few times before he finally said, "That's either Phoebe or Bianca, even I can't tell them apart."

"It's a magical twin thing," Asta suddenly piped up. "Magical twins are always exactly identical. Like Padma and Parvati."

They all took a moment to examine the twins. 'I suppose we've never thought about them seeing as Padma's always been in Ravenclaw,' Harry thought, noting the extreme similarities between the two.

"Like Fred and George," Ginny said sadly, now moving her food about on her plate with her fork. Neville, who was sitting beside her, put his arm around her and gave her shoulder a squeeze. Hermione took Ron's hand.

"Who are Fred and George?" Rosalyn asked. She, Matt, Asta and Ella were all rather confused. Harry thought it must've been quite annoying sometimes for them to have only just joined Hogwarts, they'd missed a lot after all.

"Fred and George were two of Ron and Ginny's older brothers," Harry explained try not to let herself break down. "They were identical twins too. They were the two who started Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Fred was killed in the Battle."

The four now nodded, now they completely understood the sombre atmosphere.

"Come on, guys," Neville said suddenly. "Would Fred really want us to sit here mourning like this?" They all shook their heads; they knew Neville was right.

They sat there for a few minutes, mulling over what Neville had said. Of course he wouldn't want them mourning. Harry could imagine Fred with them then saying, "What are you all moping around for?" With those deep blue sparkling eyes of his and his ever-knowing smile, Fred would've known how to cheer them up. 'He would've used this chance to teach us some sort of big prank!' Harry smiled. Apparently, she wasn't the only one with that like of thought.

"You know what?" Neville said with a sudden burst of energy. "I think Hogwarts is rather overdue a huge prank." All eyes widened at the prospect of a prank. "For Fred?" Neville asked, his grin widening by the second and spreading to all his friends.

"For Fred," they all agreed and they all soon had their heads down and were discussing the perfect prank to pull.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

"So, it wasn't actually that bad?" Hermione asked.

It was now five o'clock and Hermione and Harry were up in the girls' dorm, having already finished their Arithmancy and Transfiguration homework. Harry had just told her about her confrontation with Draco (she didn't feel like calling him Malfoy anymore, Aunt Marlie was right about moving on and family names being a part of that), minus the part where she ended up crying to Caspar. She wasn't too sure if she wanted to see how Hermione would respond to that part.

"No, it wasn't," said Harry. She was still a bit confused about Draco asking her for a chance but, all in all, she didn't feel like telling him had been as terrible as she imagined it.

Before they had a chance to talk about the event further, the rest of their dorm mates suddenly turned up. Ginny and Parvati drifted onto Ginny's bed and continued their conversation. Harry thought it was a bit odd, seeing those two becoming quite good friends, but either way thought it was good for them. She knew Ginny hadn't always had great friends in her own year after being so distant as a First Year and Parvati had only ever really had Lavender. At first Harry had thought that Asta would be the one to take Lavender's place but, even though it had only been a few hours, it seemed that Asta got along with Hermione better than Parvati. Rosalyn and Ella came and sat on Harry's bed with her while Asta joined Hermione on hers. Though they'd only known each other for a day and a bit, it felt like far longer to Harry.

"So Harry," Rosalyn started bouncing on her bed making her almost fall off the other side. "Any update on Quidditch trials?" This also gained Ginny's attention.

"Saturday morning," Harry confirmed, suddenly giddy with the excitement of finally playing Quidditch again. "I'll put a notice on the board tomorrow morning,"

"Only more more day! So exciting!" Rosalyn squealed. "I wonder who else will try out…"

"Enough of Quidditch," Parvati rolled her eyes, obviously not as into Quidditch as Harry and Rosalyn. "Now is the perfect time to start sorting out Ball arrangements! We've got to think dresses, shoes, accessories…"

"Parvati," said Harry. "The Ball is two months away." This seemed a bit early to sort these things out to Harry. Then again, she'd never really been given a chance to get into these girly sorts of things. What would she know about it?

"Maybe two months but Parvati's right," Ella sighed. "You've got to start early if you want things to be right. I should know, Mother still made us attend a few Balls held by family friends while we were still in hiding."

"Besides," said Parvati, "I think it'll be something fun for us to do together."

"I agree!" Ginny chimed in.

"Ok then," Harry conceded, hoping she might actually enjoy this. She'd never gushed about dresses or squealed about boys before. Who knew? Maybe she'd really like it.

Parvati seemed to be taking control, having the most experience and all. "Let's start with Ella!" she decided, jumping from her bed, grabbing Ella and pulling her into the centre of the room. Ella obliged and even spun around a few times, occasionally striking a pose. They all smiled and giggled and leaned forward as if they were watching her every move. They all soon erupted into laughter. "Ok, ok come on! First things first; colour scheme?"

Harry looked over at her new friend. Her auburn hair would be rather difficult to work with, colour wise, she thought, but from the photos she had, she knew her mother had had auburn hair. Several colours always looked particularly nice on her. Such as, "Turquoise? Like a bright turquoise and maybe white to go with it?" she asked, a bit hesitantly seeing as she was new to the subject and all.

The girls mulled over the idea for a moment before Ella exclaimed, "That would be perfect!" The others confirmed their definite agreements. "I love turquoise!" Ella said. So it was decided, Ella's dress would be a light turquoise.

"I think it should be a long floaty sort of dress not puffy," said Ginny, examining Ella with critical eyes. "With sheer layers and silk underneath?"

The look on Ella's face was all the confirmation they needed.

"That would look really nice on her! Decorated with some sort of silver maybe?" said Rosalyn. "Definitely silver jewellery because gold would clash with that gorgeous hair of yours!" She gently leaned over the footboard of Harry's bed and flicked a lock of Ella's hair into her face, making her laugh.

"I think silver heels would work well with that. What about a stone to match?" Parvati asked.

"A stone?" Harry asked, not understanding what a stone had to do with dresses.

"Like a jewel," Ella explained.

"Do you think diamond would be nice?" Asta asked.

"That would look really nice," Harry said, smiling. She could imagine Ella in a dress like that already and knew she'd look amazing.

"I love it! Just give me a sec to write this all down so I can send it off to mother's stylist!" Ella exclaimed. "You know," she said as she searched though her trunk for parchment. "I'm sure if I asked, Amalia would gladly make dresses for all of you too."

The girls got very excited by this, even Harry and Hermione though it was new territory to them. The only one who didn't seem upbeat was Ginny. Harry instantly understood, her family couldn't afford a stylist. Harry knew there was something she'd meant to do relating to this matter. Or was it something that was done already…?

'Sirius's will!' She suddenly remembered. In it he'd left vaults full of money for Ron, Hermione and Ginny, seeing as they were Harry's best friends. However, as there was never an official reading of the will they never found out about it. She quickly pulled Hermione and Ginny from where they were sitting and explained to them. Ginny's eyes lit up faster than a spell.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" she squealed, hugging Harry tightly. The amount in the vault would be far more than enough to fund for many balls. Hermione too thanked her friend, even though she knew it was Sirius she should've thanked, and they all returned to their seats, hardly containing their excitement.

"Are you really sure, Ella?" asked Ginny, barely containing her excitement.

"Of course!" Ella smiled. "I'll send an owl tonight!"

"This is perfect!" Parvati squealed. "Ok, who's next?"

"Me, me, me!" Rosalyn practically begged. So Rosalyn took Ella's place in the middle and began spinning for them all.

Again, it was Harry who came up with the ideal colours. "Dark red, black for extra and silver. It's very bold but if anyone can pull it off, it's Rosalyn."

Everyone was in agreement. "I love it!" she sighed. "Harry you're really good at this!"

Harry blushed and ducked her head in embarrassment as all the other girls voiced their agreements.

And so it went on until each girl had a perfect ensemble lined up. The each wrote down their requirements and handed them to Ella who planned on owling them after dinner.

"Now there is one more thing we all need to discuss," said Asta importantly. "Boys."

'Uh oh,' Harry thought, 'Not exactly my best topic…'

"Well I'm obviously going with Ron," said Hermione.

"I'm going with Callum," said Asta, blushing slightly.

"And I'm going with Cameron," said Ginny. "Which mean we still need to find dates for the rest of you! Any one got their eye on someone?"

"Well…" began Parvati. "I did get to know Terry quite well last year and I think he may…"

"Terry Boot?" Hermione and Harry asked simultaneously. Because of rechoosing timetables, Harry now had Arithmancy with him and Hermione had always been in the class anyway.

"Terry Boot, Ravenclaw?" Harry asked again. Terry was rather good looking and it was obvious he had many girls crushing on him. Harry had noticed Lisa Turpin and Maria Astley were constantly throwing him sideways looks and giggling to each other.

"Yes," Parvati said quietly.

"Good catch Parv!" Rosalyn said.

"Ok, ok, enough about me!" and the shy Parvati was gone almost before they'd acknowledged her. The normal Parvati kicked in with, "What about the rest of you?"

"Well we all know Rosie is already fighting off boys with a stick…" Ginny drawled cheekily.

"I am not!" she protested. "And don't call me Rosie!"

"How many boys have asked you so far?"

Harry watched them all bantering back and forth. She really was having a good time. She hadn't realised how much she'd missed out of because of the damn prophecy that had messed up her life. This felt like being a girl and she really liked it. Her thought drifted to whom she could go to the ball with. Draco was first to pop into her mind, for reasons unknown. 'As if that's going to happen,' she told herself. Then she thought about Caspar, would he want to go with her? There was something between them that Harry couldn't describe. Did he feel it too? Would he want to take her to the ball? Harry shuddered slightly. Going to the ball with Caspar was an odd idea. Somehow he seemed to have adopted a more brotherly position in her mind than that of a possible boyfriend. It was like he was taking Fred's place. Not that anyone could replace Fred in Harry's heart, there would always be a place for her 'brother' there. But it was almost like Caspar was there, healing the hole yet being careful not to try to fill it. _That makes no sense, _Harry told herself.

"And Harry?" Asta suddenly asked, jerking Harry from her thoughts.

"Huh, what?" she said, not knowing what she'd missed.

"Any idea who you want to go with?" Parvati clarified for her.

"Erm… No not really…" she said awkwardly. "I don't think anyone would be interested in me anyway," she admitted.

Everyone suddenly burst out laughing, Harry was confused. "What did I say?" Harry asked bewildered.

"Harriet Lily Potter, you cannot seriously be telling us you don't think any guy is interested in you." Hermione managed.

Harry was still confused, what was she on about?

"By my guessing, at least half of the male population of the school want to ask you, the rest don't only because they are taken!" Rosalyn teased her.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Do you seriously not realise how many guys would do backwards flips to go out with you?" Ginny managed between giggles.

"What?" Harry asked again.

"Oh come on! Some are so obvious!"

"Ok, so some people see the Chosen One or whatever…"

"But Harry you're one of the most beautiful girls in school!"

"I'd kill for eyes like yours."

"You could have boys crawling on the ground for a date with you."

The girls all went on and on, Harry barely hanging on to what they were saying. It was obvious to her that they were working from some angle, as she thought all they were saying was untrue, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL GOING ON ABOUT?" Harry finally shouted, to get their attention. The giggles died down as the girls calmed down, a bit deflated from Harry's outburst, but that didn't stop them from saying more.

"We all definitely know at least one boy who wants nothing more than to go with you," Rosalyn sang.

"Oh yes!" said Ginny, "and it's not like he's being subtle anymore."

"Who?" Harry demanded.

"Lay off her guys!" Hermione finally said. "She hasn't always had time to notice boys…"

Realising what Hermione meant, the others quietened down a bit. Harry made a mental to thank her best friend for that.

"You really don't know?" Asta asked, quieter now.

"No I don't."

"Oh the poor guy! He's head over heels!" Ella exclaimed dramatically.

"Who is it?" Harry asked, hoping to finally get an answer but a bit nervous regarding who it might be.

The girls all looked at Hermione, they were obviously bursting to tell Harry themselves but they all realised it would be best for the girl she knew best to tell her.

"It's Matt," Hermione sighed.

_FLASHBACK TO THE SORTING_

Harry looked over at the new guy, noting his strong build, which was almost completely hidden by the school robes but visible enough to attract attention. His slightly tanned skin, dirty blond hair with few paler streaks and those bright, entrancing sea coloured eyes reminded her of stereotypical surfer boys from muggle movies. He was definitely hot, Harry wouldn't even dream of denying it. It wasn't until she tried to sneak a look at his stunning eyes that she realised he'd caught her looking at him but, at the same time, it also looked like he'd been looking her over too. Harry blushed deeply as he gave her a sheepish, but extremely cheeky smile.

_FLASHBACK TO BREAKFAST_

Matt nodded at her, showing that he now understood. Harry found her eyes locked on his for a moment too long. He gave her a small smile causing Harry to blush almost as deeply as she had the night before.

_FLASHBACK TO POTIONS_

"Amira." Marlie called.

The dark haired girl stood and announced, "My partner is Matthew and, though he's only been at Hogwarts for a day, he already has a huge crush on someone." She smirked at her now extremely embarrassed partner.

Dean, Seamus, Ron and Neville began wolf whistling causing the poor guy to look down, probably wishing it was possible to apparate in Hogwarts. He looked up for a moment, he looked at Harry, blushed slightly and then looked down again. Harry thought it was because she was the closest girl he knew. Harry smiled, she thought it was sweet but she definitely felt a bit sorry for Matt. It seemed some Slytherins were just as sly as always.

_FLASHBACK TO BREAK_

Harry was about to leave the Common Room to search for Malfoy when Matt called her name, coming after her as she tried to leave. "Can I ask you something?" He asked looking hopeful. Harry thought it seemed like he had something important to ask but, obviously, with her motivation to see Malfoy fresh in her mind, she apologised and said he could ask her when she got back before running off and leaving him alone in the portrait hole.

_FLASHBACKS OVER_

Harry now sat with a slack jaw. "How did I not notice?" she mumbled. "He even tried to ask me…"

The girls squealed. "He did?" they all begged for details.

"But I was distracted so I didn't give him a chance."

"Poor Matt!" Ginny sighed along with the rest of the girls.

"Well Harry?" asked Ella. "Do you want to go with him?"

Harry paused, Matt was really sweet and fun to be around, but could she see herself with him? She really didn't know.

"Give her some time," Hermione saved her, "and let her figure it out."

As the other girls returned to the conversation about getting someone for Ella and sorting out who Rosalyn might actually say yes to, Harry thought about Matt.

She thought about how his cheeky smiles made her feel all warm inside and blush. She remembered his little wink when they'd been teasing her during break. She reminded herself about looking him over at the Welcoming Feast.

Who was she kidding? Matt was extremely good looking, sweet and funny. Harry could have a nice time with him and, who knew, maybe she'd even get a chance to see how good his fine lips were at kissing. She imagined kissing him. She could easily imagine laughing and smiling with him.

But what if the other girls were wrong? What if Matt wasn't really interested in her? After all, it had barely been two days since they met. Maybe he was like that with everyone.

Then someone else suddenly came to mind.

Draco.

Harry suddenly remembered his grey eyes that reminded her of mercury and liquid silver. His platinum blond hair, which he'd taken to leaving with out gel. That hair that just made Harry want to run her fingers through it and muss it up. His smirk. There was something now about his smirk that made her happy. She brushed it off as normality being restored but there was something more to it that she couldn't quite put her finger on. And, though she'd never admit it, he was definitely easy on the eyes. Far more so than he had been as the, admittedly, scrawny First Year he had been.

But, though his intense gazes made her heart skip several beats, it was all wrong and she knew it. He was Draco Malfoy: her sworn nemesis. She couldn't feel these things about him. Especially after the whole bracelet deal, that had been a mess.

Despite this, Harry couldn't stop thinking about Draco. Harry blamed it all on side effects from the stupid bracelet, if she'd never gotten it, she wouldn't be feeling these things. She was sure. Well… she told herself she was sure and that was good enough for now.

"Oh my god!" Harry was ripped from her thoughts by Parvati's loud voice. "It's seven o'clock, we've only half an hour before dinner ends!"

The girls all scrambled to their feet, food was on the line! Figuring this was emergency enough, Harry told them all to follow her as she led them towards a secret passageway she'd learned from the map, which took them straight down to a portrait next to the entrance of the Great Hall. Harry peeked through a whole in the portrait to check that the coast was clear before pushing it open and ushering them all out of the passageway. They all stumbled into the Great Hall and basically fell into their seats at the Gryffindor table, ignoring the stares they were getting.

"Ron I'm so sorry!" Hermione exclaimed, sitting down next to her boyfriend.

Ron laughed and put his arm around her. "Don't worry, I think I managed to guide the Firsties pretty well."

"With our wonderful help, of course!" Seamus chimed in while reaching for the chicken.

"You would call that help?" Ron guffawed, nearly choking on his pumpkin juice. "Seam, you tried to lead them up to the Astronomy Tower. Not cool mate."

"I was trying to give them a tour of the castle," Seamus argued.

"And I was trying to take them here for supper!" Ron threw his hand in the air and sighed in mock exhaustion. "Bloody useless you are Seam."

"Why thank you!" Seamus puffed out his chest looking proud only to get smacked on the head by Ginny and Dean.

"Prat!" they said. Everyone laughed as they all relaxed and helped themselves to some food.

"Erm… Excuse me?" They all turned around to see Professor Carter, their new Transfiguration teacher and Head of House, standing there a bit awkwardly. "Hermione and Ronald isn't it? You're the Head Girl and Head Boy? Seventh Year Gryffindors?" she asked the two who nodded. "I'd really like it if you could spread the word for me about a house meeting in the Common Room at eight o'clock? I'd really like to introduce myself to you all properly."

"Of course Professor," Hermione responded promptly, saving Ron from trying to swallow the huge bite of chicken currently in his mouth, which he didn't want to chew in front of the new professor. "Take smaller bites, idiot!" she smacked his arm once Professor Carter had returned to the Head Table to finished her own dinner.

Meanwhile, Harry was sitting between Rosalyn and Ella, trying to keep up with their conversation about charms. Or was it DADA? Harry lost track. Her mind was a bit occupied by the sandy haired guy sitting opposite her.

She pushed her food around a bit on her plate, wanting to look up at Matt but trying not to be obvious.

"So Harry," Harry groaned, of course he would talk to her. She looked up and gave him a small smile.

"Yeah?"

"Quidditch trials any time soon?"

Her shyness was instantly forgotten. "This weekend," she said.

"Cool!" he smiled at her. "So, any chance of a new guy getting on the team?" he leaned forward, locking their eyes.

"Depends how good a new guy is," Harry teased.

"Oh, I assure you he's very good," Matt drawled.

"Oh really?" Harry asked.

"Yep," Matt popped the 'p' at the end of the word as he tapped Harry's nose sweetly with his fork and smiled at her cheekily. Harry felt herself melt.

"Well I know I'll definitely make the team!" Rosalyn joined in, holding her nose high but in a joking sort of way.

"You sure about that Withers?" Harry asked.

"You can bet on it Potter!"

They all laughed as conversation soon drifted on to the next world cup, which had been postponed (due to the Battle) until the upcoming summer.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

Draco stabbed at his food again, grinding his teeth and narrowing his eyes. Who did that Connolly guy think he was, chatting up _his _girl, _his _Harry.

He saw the guy lean over and tap his fork on her nose and he all he wanted to do was go over and pummel the guy. That was _his _perfect girl that Connolly was hitting on.

Then, he saw Harry's face. His heart lurched as he saw her blush at something Connolly had said. Saw her smile, such a relaxed and easy smile, when the Withers girl play punched her. Saw her laughing as the rest of the Gryffindors joined in. Saw her wink cheekily at that stupid leprechaun, Finnigan, before flicking a piece of chicken at him.

Draco saw them all laugh. They all seemed so carefree. And they were with Harry. Draco didn't like it at all.

Draco hated every second of watching her beautiful face lighting up in moments like these. He hated it because she'd never lit up like that around him. He'd never made her smile like that. They'd never laughed together, only at each other. She had most definitely never winked at him cheekily either. He didn't mind not being hit by chicken though, that he could live without.

Blaise was nudging him, trying to tell him something. Draco just took another stab at the food on his plate, not even knowing what it was. He didn't really care what Blaise had to say right now.

Then, while trying to think of ways to talk to Harry, Draco was stabbed by a fork.

"Argh!" he shouted. "What the hell Blaise?"

"Oops?" the Italian who couldn't speak Italian shrugged.

"What?" Draco asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"I was asking what your plan is?" Blaise rolled his eyes.

"What plan?" Draco asked.

"To ask Potter to the Ball?" said Blaise as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Her name is Harriet," Caspar said, leaning over to take some more sausage.

"Since when are you on a first name basis with her?" Draco demanded turning his anger to Caspar.

"She's my potions partner, thickhead," Caspar drawled. "It's a necessity to call her by her first name."

There was something else on Caspar's face that made Draco think there was more to it than he was letting on but Blaise took back his attention before he could further analyse him.

"So? Harriet? Ball? Plan?"

"I don't know," Draco sulked, going back to poking his food. "She hates me."

"Nah mate," said Blaise, mouth full of beans. "Can't be true."

"What? Of course it's true," said Draco.

"Then why didn't she just come to you as soon as she got the bracelet and demand you take it off?"

Draco's heart skipped a bit. Blaise actually had a point. Not that Draco thought she'd waited because she considered marrying him, but because she'd been too scared to tell him. Maybe she was scared because she felt it too but didn't want to admit it…

"She already asked me to take it off," he said miserably. "She doesn't want to be with me."

"Just because she doesn't want to marry you, doesn't mean she doesn't want to be with you," Caspar mumbled but Draco still heard.

"What?" Draco asked, curious as to how Caspar would know of any of this.

"She's just not ready for that sort of commitment but I'm pretty sure she does have feelings for you. She cried after telling you, didn't even make it down the next corridor," Caspar said casually.

"How would you know that?" Draco demanded. He didn't like another guy knowing more about his girl than he did.

"We talk," Caspar shrugged. "I don't know. We're close but not. I'm not really sure what it is but it feels like a connection I have with her." Before Draco had a chance to protest, Caspar quickly said, "No! Not like that! It's like… With Juliet! Harriet feels like a sister. I think that's the right way to put it…"

Draco stared wide-eyed at his new friend.

"That's weird," Blaise put Draco's thoughts into words.

"I guess," said Caspar before turning back to his food.

Draco took another glance at Harry who was still at the Gryffindor table. Could there really be a chance of her having feelings for him?

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

**Yay another chapter! Hope you all like it and thanks for reading!**

**Thanks also to everyone who voted on the poll for who she should go with. I'm stopping it now because I do have a winner. If you're going to try looking through the reviews to figure out who she'll go with then I'm reminding you that people did PM me as well so you may or may not work it out from reviews ;)**

**I'm really sorry but since there was such a huge response and most reviews were only responses to the poll, I'm only going to reply to those that were about more than just who Harry should go with… Thank you to everyone who did respond though, it made me so happy to see how many people are interested in the story!**

**The 13****th**** Heart : I'm sorry this update took so long, I really hope you managed without out turning blue again! Thanks for your ideas, I will do my best to try and incorporate them! Love the idea of her going to Marlie for advice! Thanks for your continued support and I hope you liked this chapter!**

**roos1414 : Yeah they were meant to be obvious so I'm glad it came across. Here's your update!**

**NikiD1233 : Sorry it took so long, but here's the update!**

**AbbyRose24 and ChiyukiLuvs2Glomp : (Sorry I'm kind of putting you together as you said the same thing) I love your ideas, thank you! I hope you liked this chapter!**

**A/N: If any of you read another recent fic of mine (Family Sticks Together) you may know I said I'd only update that on Wednesdays and Thursdays and I basically just want to let you all know I'm doing the same with this story too. Also I have camp next week so no update then but I'll try get chapter 7 up either this weekend or as soon as I return (13****th**** August).**

**Thank you all for reading, I hope you liked it! Please do review and let me know what you think!**

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